The Eternal God: Against the Evolutionary God of Mormonism

"Of old You laid the foundation of the earth,
     and the heavens are the work of Your hands.
They will perish, but You will remain;
     they will all wear out like a garment.
You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away,
     but You are the same, and Your years have no end."
- Psalm 102:25-27 

One of the lesser-known doctrines of Mormonism is that God is only God here, not throughout the universe. Rather, he was once a man on another planet who was exalted to godhood by the God of that planet. In the same way, they believe that good Mormons will be exalted to godhood and receive their own planets. 

This is one of the most-explicitly antibiblical doctrines of Mormonism. The Bible explicitly tells us that the deity of God, the true, living biblical God, has always existed, and has always been God. Where the Mormon universe is eternal and self-existing (attributes of deity), the Christian, triune, biblical God is eternal and self-existing, and the universe has only a derivative existence: "In Him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28).

This alone should be sufficient evidence to demonstrate that the Mormon claim to the Christian name is a deception.

Perseverance by the Hand of the Lord Alone

As a Christian, I can testify of my own weakness. I know, without a doubt, that I would fall in a micro-second if my perseverance depended on me. However, I am thankful beyond words, that Jesus has undertaken, not just to redeem me, but to redeem me forever. In this case, it is the buyer who insists that "all sales are final -no refunds."

"The steps of a man are established by the Lord,
     when he delights in His way;
though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, 
     for the Lord upholds his hand."
- Psalm 37: 23-24

In these four lines of poetry, we learn so much about God's promise of faithfulness to His people. There is no cheap grace, no "once saved, always saved" nonsense here. For the promise isn't, "If you raise your hand, you will be set for life, no matter what you do." Rather, it is a promise that the Christian will be sustained in his walk, that is, in His life as a Christian. Furthermore, there is no prosperity-gospel promise of "now I am happy all the day. On the contrary, it explicitly states that a part of the Christian walk is to stumble, as David did, in his sin with Bathsheba and Uriah (II Samuel, chapters 11 and 12). However, there is a promise here that such a stumble, though it may be severe or for a long time, yet it will not be permanent. Why? Because we are so spiritually-resilient that we will bounce back on our own? No, but rather because it is His hand, not our own strength, that upholds us (compare John 10:27-30). 

I don't understand that opposition of Arminians to the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. Well, actually I do. They misrepresent it, and then reject it, what logicians call a "strawman argument." However, I find it of such comfort that I could not live without knowing it. My hope is in the hand of Christ, not my own strength.

Astrology: Is Our Fate Written in the Stars?

In chastising his congregants for consulting astrologers, John Calvin referred to Isaiah 44:25: "[The Lord] frustrates the signs of liars and makes fools of diviners, who turns wise men back and makes their knowledge foolish." The prophet here tells the Israelites that consulting astrologers is dangerous, because God deliberately deceives the deceivers, as punishment for the deceived. 

The Prophet Jeremiah also addressed the question of astrologers (Jeremiah 10:2): "Do not act like the other nations, who try to read their future in the stars. Do not be afraid of their predictions, even though other nations are terrified by them."

In their advertisements and signs, astrologers, palm-readers, and "spiritual advisors" often include a cross, claiming that their foundation is Christian. It is OK to consult them, we are to believe, because they aren't like Pagan fortune tellers. But God says otherwise.

The person who goes to a fortune teller, whether of the Pagan or the professedly-Christian variety, is looking for a secret source of information, apart from the revelation that God has given us. That in itself is a pagan act, regardless of what Christian terminology anyone uses to clothe it.

Isaiah also addresses that mentality directly (Isaiah 8:19-20): "When they say to you, 'Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,' should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living? To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn." "The teaching and the testimony" are biblical words for the Scriptures (see Psalm 119). Thus, God opposes the use of fortune tellers, and directs His people to find their infallible revelation in His word alone. If a person is seeking spiritual knowledge outside Scripture, then he is committing two sins: one is to demonstrate a pagan mentality that seeks truth outside that given by God; and the second is to accuse God of inadequacy. What He gives you, you decide, is not good enough. Do you not recognize that as the same temptation with which Satan destroyed the bliss of our first parents (Genesis 3:1-5)?

No matter what you call yourself, if you consult astrology, or any other type of fortune teller, then you are a Pagan, not a Christian. 

Is Satan Still the God of This World?

Jehovah's Witnesses like to point out the Bible refers to Satan as "the god of this world" (II Corinthians 4:4). And, as far as that goes, they are correct, though their application of that verse is self-serving and exegetically-unwarranted. Paul is obviously referring to this world spiritual system, not this world as the totality of everything.

The problem is that there are a lot of other things said about Satan, that the Jehovah's Witnesses (and a lot of other people) don't address.

Consider Luke 11:21:22: "When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe; but when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoil." In its context, Jesus had cast a demon out of a man who was deaf-mute. The Pharisees claimed that He had done this by the power of Satan, the ruler of demons. The response of Jesus was to compare His actions to those of a burglar, who would first bind the master of a house, before pillaging the house of its goods. While we may be uncomfortable with Jesus's using a thief as an analogy for Himself, His meaning is clear. He wasn't acting by the power of Satan. Rather, He had bound Satan's power, and was now pillaging Satan's kingdom of its spiritual goods, those in bondage to his control.

Next consider John 1:31: "Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out." Jesus said this immediately after the Father had announced verbally that Jesus was His divine Son. Thus, His coming into the world was a strike against the power of Satan. Think of the demolition of a  building. Explosives are set at strategic points in the building, and then blown. the building doesn't collapse all in a single swoop. Rather, sections collapse in an orderly series into each other. This statement of Jesus doesn't indicate a single, catastrophic collapse of Satan's power, but rather a step in its systematic destruction.

We can confirm that interpretation with another verse, John 16:11: "The ruler of this world is judged." Jesus describes Satan in language equivalent to that of Paul. However, this ruler isn't basking in his power, for he has been judged. His destruction has been determined, and his overthrow has been initiated.

Paul repeated that assurance in Colossians 2:15: "He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in Him." In His ministry thus far, i. e., everything from His incarnation to His ascension, had all served to undermine and overthrow the spiritual powers that had dominated the nations. Thus, when Paul described Satan as "god of this world" in one passage, it was with the understanding that he expressed in this passage, that Satan may be the head of the humanistic worldview that is opposed to God, but that worldview and headship have been defeated in Jesus Christ!

Satan is defeated, and his ultimate state has been determined (Matthew 25:41). See also Revelation 12:8-9, Luke 10:18, and John 12:31. The New Testament consistently portrays Satan as an opponent of Jesus Christ, but a defeated opponent. And, as Revelation 12:12 indicates, even what influence Satan retains in his defeated state, is only for a short time.

Our Salvation Is All of God, and Nothing of Us: The Gospel According to Moses

Moses said something to Israel that the American Pelagian hates to hear (Deuteronomy 30:6): "The LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live."

This is spoken to the elect among the Israelites (and now among Gentiles, too). For all of us, and for no others, God promises to give us a new heart, and also promises the blessing of covenant succession. That is, as Peter also says, "the promise is to you and to your children" (Acts 2:39). These promises are part of why Presbyterians baptize our children.

But what does He promise? First, a new heart. We see this described more fully in Ezekiel 36:26-27: "I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules." Compare also Philippians 2:13. What was wrong with the old heart? "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?" (Jeremiah 17:9). This is the condition that theologians call "total depravity," that is, a nature so corrupted by sin that our every spiritual inclination is to love sin and hate God. In the elect, God promises to remove that corrupt spiritual heart and replace it with a new heart that loves Him and desires to serve Him. Not perfectly in this life, but progressively, and perfectly in the new life to come.

Second, He promises that this new heart, out of the love that it now has for God, will love Him completely. This is what He commands in Deuteronomy 6:5: "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might." This is the same command that Jesus quotes and calls "the first and greatest commandment" (Matthew 22:38). This demonstrates the falsity of the Arminian claim that God cannot command from us what we cannot do of ourselves. Because we cannot. However, He can command us to do what He does in us (Isaiah 26:12)! As Augustine said, "Lord, give what You command and command what You will."

What a blessing to know that, in my spiritual helplessness, God did not abandon me. Rather, He worked in me what He required to be done for my salvation, purchased by Christ on the cross, and applied to me through faith, which, too, is His gift (Ephesians 2:8-9).

The Osteenification of American Evangelicalism: The Smiling Face of Apostasy

American evangelicalism has been taken over by what I call Osteenism, a gospel of self-esteem, with a Jesus as the great psychotherapist and Santa Claus in the sky. We aren't to talk about sin and God's holiness; God is to be presented only and always as a God of syrupy love, never of wrath. This has resulted in professing Christians with an ignorance of doctrine, of the Bible, of truth, and who are utterly incapable of dealing with adversity or addressing our humanistic culture. Since there is nothing wrong with people, according to this teaching, then there is no transformation, either of individuals or of churches, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

This not the faith of the Bible.

We see Jacob, the grandson of Adam and founder of the nation of Israel, saying of himself (Genesis 32:10): "I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that You have shown to Your servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps." He was blessed by God, enriched in fact, and acknowledges that fact. However, he also recognizes his unworthiness. These gifts have come from the hand of God, not because of Jacob's merits, but in spite of his demerits!

We see the same attitude in II Samuel 7:18: "Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and said, 'Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that You have brought me thus far?'" King David, one of the most-prominent figures in the Old Testament, had experienced many blessings and protections from God. Was it because he avoided recognizing any failures on his own part? Not at all! Rather, he professes those very inadequacies (compare Psalm 51), and praises God for giving him the exact opposite of what he deserved (II Sam. 7:21): "Because of Your promise, and according to Your own heart, You have brought about all this greatness, to make Your servant know it." In giving His blessings, God never intends for David, or for us, to congratulate ourselves for our magnificence. Rather, it is to cause us to recognize our unworthiness and His magnificence.

In following the prophets of Osteenism, a professing Christian may develop an astounding self-esteem. However, he will never learn proper esteem for God, his mercy, and His gifts.

Near-Death Experiences: Do People Really See Heaven and Then Come back?

I have been appalled by the number of books and videos on Amazon that supposedly describe the experience of people who have died, been to heaven, and then returned to the world of the living. There is also a video being promoted by the 700 Club on the subject. I won't list any title, because I don't want to promote awareness of them.

However, I must express my concern about such books, even if they are true, and not the mere commercial inventions that I suspect them to be.

Jesus tells a story (Luke 16:19-31): "There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.'"

I especially want to focus on verse 31: "He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’" Here we have the testimony that people will not be converted by such stories, if they reject the testimony of the Bible, which is the divinely-appointed means of conversion (John 17:17).

I also think of the words on Paul, in II Corinthians 12:1-4, especially verse 4: "...things that cannot be told, which man may not utter." In this passage, he describes a man, unnamed but known to Paul, who has such an experience, but was forbidden to repeat what he heard while he was in heaven. If that man was forbidden to speak, why does God allow all of these other people to publish their supposedly-same stories? I say "supposedly" because I am sceptical of them, not only on the bases that I mention here, but also because of the screwy theology promoted by so many of these books, especially the frequent New Age spin given them.

It is obvious that I cannot forbid anyone to write, much less purchase, these books. However, I can urge you to consider what the Scriptures say on the matter, and avoid them as unbiblical deceptions.