5 Random Thoughts about Osama bin Laden’s Death

1. We should be happy that a mass murdering terrorist can no longer orchestrate terror.

It can be so simple that it is easy to overlook: Osama up to his death believed in violent terroristic jihad and has always had intentions to continue. If nothing else, Osama can no longer do this.

2. We should be thankful that our government uses lethal force in punishing those who harm its citizens

Romans 13:3-4

3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.

All civil governments have a God-given duty to avenge wrongdoers. Governments too have been marred by the consequences of sin and often fall short of what God has called them to, therefore we should be all the more pleased when they do succeed in becoming the vehicle for God’s wrath against criminal activity.

3. We should rejoice that God is so glorious that he would have forgiven Osama if he would have repented but also be glad his sins are not going unpunished.

This is the message of the gospel. All people have deeply degraded God through horrible sin. Jesus came to live a righteous life and die on the cross and rise from the dead to secure our justification so that by faith in him we might receive forgiveness, adoption, and joy. Yet for those who do no believe, the wrath of God remains on them.

John 3:36

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

4. Is Osama in Hell?

While it is not man’s position to judge the eternal destination of those who die, we do know clearly by what standard God makes his decision: Repentance towards God and faith in Jesus Christ. Osama has claimed allegiance to Islam, a religion that denies the saving work of Jesus Christ.

There is zero evidence that Osama ever trusted in Jesus for the forgiveness of his sins, but for the benefit of the doubt, if he did convert to Christianity secretly, the outcome would be even worse for him:

1 Timothy 5:8

But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

He died using a family member as a human shield. Judge for yourself. Edit: As new details come to light, it appears that this element of the story has probably been fabricated.

5. Is it right for the government to have killed him?

This is one of the least morally ambiguous cases for the justification of lethal force: Osama personally took credit for the 9/11 attacks, he evaded arrest for a decade, he made clear his intentions for continuing with the attacks, and he died firing a weapon at those who would have taken him alive to try him in court. If you can’t warrant lethal force in this circumstance, you are not living in reality.

Top 10 Reasons Pope Benedict XVI’s Apology is Worthless

Evidence that the Pope Skips Confession

If you haven’t been hearing about the child and teenage sexual abuse scandals in the Roman Catholic Church, it is about time that you know about it. It has come to light that the Roman Catholic Church has been suppressing information, in some cases by vows of silence, about sexual abuse in their celibate priesthood. In one such case, the offending priest continued to abuse children for 18 years after being caught. Unbelievable. Although there have been cases that go back to 1975, probably with many before that, the Pope has been reluctant to even speak about the sex abuse problems for fear of them being perceived as a connected scandal rather than isolated incidents associated with individual priests.

Finally, the current Pope, Benedict XVI, has issued an apology about the Irish child sex-abuse scandal.

Read the Pope’s letter, and see if you agree with the top ten reasons Pope Benedict XVI’s apology is worthless.

10. It is not an apology

The Pope admits to shame and guilt but never actually says what his personal involvement was or why it was a scandal. A victim of the abuse, Paddy Doyle, rightly called it, “same old dribble that’s been coming out for years.” An apology is hardly an apology if the offending party won’t even state in clear terms the crime he is personally responsible for, which brings us to the next point.

9. He is sympathetic rather than repentant

The whole letter has an attitude that says, “I feel your pain,” rather than, “I am sorry for the pain that I am responsible for.”

8. He doesn’t disclose action he will take

He lists a bunch of problems that need to be addressed, but does not mention how they will be addressed. On top of that, he doesn’t even mention if the priests will be excommunicated, or even defrocked. Considering that some of the priests involved in the sexual abuse had already been subjected to their peers for some form of restoration, this is a very empty way to regain the trust of abuse victims.

7. He asks other people to fix his problem

Beyond the fact that he doesn’t propose concrete solutions that he will take besides merely visiting the dioceses in Ireland, he does give the worlds’ Roman Catholics some tasks like fasting and works of mercy during Lent in order to, essentially, buy the grace needed for the restoration of the [Roman] Church in Ireland. Wait, I thought this was an apology letter, not a letter to get the faithful to try to fix a church under your oversight. It reminds me of the words of Jesus.

Matthew 23:2-5a
“The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so practice and observe whatever they tell you—but not what they do. For they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by others.”

Besides all of this, his solutions are entirely sacramental. More on that later.

6. He blames it on secular society

One of the more ridiculous and outright offensive parts of this letter is when he blames the fall of the dioceses on secular culture, when there is no organization in secular culture that comes close to the scope of the abuses of the Roman priests, especially considering how systematic they were. Besides this, it is utterly hypocritical that the Roman Church would portray themselves as holy and holding the keys to dispense grace, but yet when such rampant, sickening, widespread, and secretive sin comes to light they would blame the secular culture. If they truly held the keys to grace, you would think that they could at least get enough grace to not abuse children and teenagers.

5. He is hypocritical about who can receive the sacraments

Speaking of hypocrisy, the Pope scolds the offending priests briefly, but then proceeds to offer them sacraments by which they can (supposedly) atone for their sins, yet the excommunicated can not even receive the sacraments. A few generations ago, you could get excommunicated for divorce, but now when priests abuse children they are not even defrocked.

4. He treats the scandal as if it were an isolated event

The Pope doesn’t address why this is happening everywhere, not just in Ireland. There have been over 400 legal cases in the United States alone, and over 2000 cases of child abuse in the Dublin diocese alone, which have been intentionally covered up by the church, according to a reading of the Murphy Report.

3. He says nothing about celibacy

The elephant in the room that none of the clergy including the Pope want to talk about is celibacy. Celibacy in Roman Catholic priesthood, did not become a requirement until 1123 AD. That’s right, there are more years of history in which celibacy was not a requirement than when it was one. Furthermore, mandatory celibacy is repeatedly denied in the Bible. In their justification, the clergy quote Matthew 19, which is not talking about clergy, yet they must ignore 1 Timothy 3 that mentions the behavior of the wives in the qualifications for the clergy. Later in the letter, Paul says something even more startling. Excuse my [interruptions].

1 Timothy 4
Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times [1123AD?] some [context: clergy] will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons [harsh, Paul], through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage [forbid what?] and require abstinence from foods [meat during Lent?] that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.

Finally, the apostle Peter and other apostles had a wife.

1 Corinthians 9:5
Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas?

It is truly ironic that the man who claims his authority based on Peter (known as Cephas in other places of the Bible), would insist on a doctrine that Peter himself would have broken.

2. He is not the head of the universal Church

The Pope may claim to be the pastor of the universal church but he is not. The word “catholic” means universal (hence it is recited in the Apostles’ Creed by non-Catholics), but there is a funny thing about names. Baptists aren’t the only ones who baptize, Presbyterians aren’t the only ones with elders, Episcopalians aren’t the only ones with bishops, Pentecostals aren’t the only ones with the Holy Spirit, the Church of England is not the only church in England or limited to England, and the Eastern Orthodox church is not the only orthodox church. So the Catholic church is not the universal Church merely because it thinks so. Secondly, Jesus is the pastor of the universal Church, not Peter, nor Benedict XVI, nor any other man who has ever walked the planet.

1. He promotes a different gospel

When viewed in light of sacramentalism, the best thing the Roman Church could do for you is excommunication. Sacramentalism is the false belief that your sins are only forgiven when the grace required is merited through works or sacraments. In other words, the Roman Church and the foolish Pope Benedict XVI add works to salvation in order that you may atone for yourself. The scriptural basis against this claim is overwhelming, so endure with me while I overwhelm you.

Romans 3:20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

Romans 3:28 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.

Galatians 2:15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; 16 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

Galatians 2:21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.

Galatians 3:1 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. 2 Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

John 6:28 Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God

Ephesians 1:13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

Genesis 15:6 And [Abraham] believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

The reason these priests are not bearing fruit in keeping with repentance is because they do not believe the true gospel and are insisting on works-righteousness. The Pope’s gospel is quite different.

“I ask you to offer up your fasting, your prayer, your reading of Scripture and your works of mercy in order to obtain the grace of healing and renewal for the Church in Ireland.”

Grace that is earned by fasting, prayer, reading scripture, and works is simply not grace. Webster’s dictionary has a better theology of grace than the Pope when it defines grace as, “unmerited divine assistance given humans for their regeneration or sanctification.”

Conclusion

The Apostle Paul said in Galatians 1,

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.

Paul literally invokes the anathema on anyone who would preach a contrary gospel regardless of his or her status, placing it above not only his apostleship (apostleship being the basis to the authority the Pope claims to have), but beyond even the declarations of heavenly angels. If you get the gospel wrong, it doesn’t matter if you’re a Pope or Protestant, an Archbishop or an Atheist, a Catholic Monk or a Buddhist Monk, if anyone should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you let him be accursed.

The tragic fact about this apology letter is that it reinforces the false gospel of the Pope, and places people on a road to atone for their own sins and to sanctify themselves. It is no wonder that the Roman Catholic Church can’t rid itself of pedophilia when Jesus’ death on the cross for their sins hinges on works rather than God’s grace.

If you are in a church, Roman Catholic, Protestant, Eastern Orthodox, or otherwise, and you are hearing a false gospel, leave that church immediately and find a different one. Let the leaders declare any powerless curses that they desire on you and know that Jesus’ death on the cross for your sins is free and for you and received by grace through faith alone.

Criticisms of Luther the Movie

I Love Martin Luther

As a proud Protestant, I cannot help but love Martin Luther. Not only was he a great reformer and theologian, but he was truly instrumental in recovering the gospel from works-righteousness salvation and the sale of indulgences. One of my favorite podcasts, Fighting for the Faith is hosted by a confessional Lutheran who promotes the gospel prolifically in every episode. It has proven to be a priceless gift in fixing my false views of the gospel and finding joy in Christ Jesus in a way that resembled Martin Luther himself. All this being said, I was a bit disappointed after watching the movie Luther for a number of reasons.

Luther was Not That Respectful

Martin Luther was known for many great things, but by no means was one of them respectfulness. Early on, Luther was sincerely interested in reforming the Roman Catholic Church, but as he was excommunicated and exiled, he began calling the Papists “dogs” and made a lot of humorous and disrespectful criticisms of them. The Luther of the movie seemed a lot more temperate and level-headed than the Martin Luther we have read about in history.

Luther was More Concerned with the Gospel

Considering that Luther’s most significant contribution to the church was the recovery of the doctrine of justification by faith alone apart from works, I am floored that the movie never once explains or even mentions justification by faith alone on account of Christ. The focus is overwhelmingly against the sale of indulgences to escape purgatory, but not for the gospel of salvation by faith alone. The Martin Luther of the movie is even found saying gushy platitudes about seeing Christ in you when you serve your neighbor, utterly unlike the real Martin Luther who is far more concerned with repentance from sin and to Jesus.

Luther was More Involved with the Peasant’s War

In the movie, Luther is isolated from the world while translating the Bible to German, and only when he leaves his study does he witness the Peasant’s War, which he tries to break up. The next few scenes involve Luther walking though the carnage weeping and laying his coat on a crippled child who survived. In history, Martin Luther viewed the rebels as criminals and advised the authorities, “There­fore let everyone who can, smite; slay, and stab, secretly or openly, remembering that nothing can be more poisonous, hurtful, or dev­ilish than a rebel.” (Against the Murderous, Thieving Hordes of Peasants, Luther). Definitely one of Luther’s low points and certainly over-stated, but historical. If the director was worried that people may come out with a bad opinion of Luther based on the Peasant’s War, he should have just skipped covering the Peasant’s War altogether, considering that many other historical events in Luther’s life had to be skipped in order to make the film. To those who know his true involvement in the incident, the theatrical portrayal seems like damage control for Martin Luther’s reputation.

Liberties Not Liberality

In every movie depicting historical people and events the director will have to take some creative liberties. In Luther, these liberties contradict the biographical intentions for the movie’s creation and result in a Martin Luther that is made for Hollywood, but bears little resemblance to the Martin Luther of the Reformation.

What is the Opposite of Legalism?

Done With Legalism!

When was the last time you heard someone call himself a legalist? Hardly anyone will ever describe himself as legalistic, but many Christians who go on to maturity recognize that they have behaved legalistically perhaps even more often than they broke commandments. It is much more natural to regulate behavior instead of seeking strength in the gospel through repentance and faith in Jesus and as a result, the refreshing, simple call to trust in the merits of Jesus crucified for you on the cross suddenly becomes a joy bigger than the national debt. At this point of the discussion, it is easy to feel done. Go, and be a legalist no more!

The Opposite of Wrong

In every issue of the Christian life, the opposite of wrong is just a different wrong. For example, charismatic acts a la Benny Hinn are false signs and miracles, but without any theology of miracles, we would be deists, the atonement would be impossible, and our faith would be futile.

What then is the opposite of legalistic discipline? Disordered, lazy worldliness, and license to sin. Judge for yourself which is worse.

A Third Way

Where then does the recovering legalist go? To Jesus of course (the Sunday School answer is always right)! But what does that look like considering that Jesus has ascended to heaven? We can’t see or touch Jesus, or talk to him and hear words back. How do we encounter Jesus here on earth? Answer: through the means of grace.

The Meansa Wha?

The means of grace are ways that God has established for delivering grace to you. Consider Isaiah 55:1.

Isaiah 55:1 “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.”

We see the grace in the, “without money and without price.” These are free gifts of grace, not works, but notice that you still have to eat. If you thirst and hunger and come to the waters, but you don’t eat, you will remain hungry. The means of grace are the ways that we eat the free food. Do not equate the calls to thirst, come, buy, and eat with dead works to please God, but rather as means that God has provided to acquire more and more and more grace to satisfy more and more of your hungers and thirsts and to help you to bear good fruit.

Give Me Grace!

Ok, so what are the means of grace? Where do we find them? In the Bible, of course.

• Crying out to the Lord from your trouble. (Psalm 107 – Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.)
• Confession of sins to God (1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.)
• Confession of sins to one another (James 5:16 – Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.)
• Through the exchange of spiritual gifts in church (1 Peter 4:10 – As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace)
• Hearing the gospel with faith (Galatians 3:5-6 – Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?)
• Hearing the word of God (Acts 20:32 – And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.)
• Being acquainted with the sacred writings (2 Timothy 3:15 – …and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.)
• Giving to the needy (2 Corinthians 9:7-8 – Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.)
• Eating the Lord’s Supper in a worthy manner (1 Corinthians 11:26 – For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.)

These were the results of a very brief survey of the Bible, and are by no means a comprehensive list, but they serve as a menu of appetizers in the feast of grace. Glut yourself on God, and bring a friend… or an enemy.

Not Being Calvinist, Part 2: Evangelistic Methods

Introduction

This is part two in a three part series about avoiding spiritual pitfalls that may arise from Arminian theology. As I stated in the first part and will state again, I truly believe that Arminians are brothers in Christ and that as brothers we have responsibilities to love one another that reach across theological lines. Out of love for Arminian Christians, I have dedicated this series to help them guard from spiritual vulnerabilities that Calvinists can be less sensitive to due to our differences in the understanding of predestination.

Why Evangelize?

One of the most common objections I hear when discussing predestination is that it removes the call to evangelize, since people are already predestined to be saved or not. In other words, the accusation is that it creates grounds for Calvinists to make excuses for not evangelizing or that it would mean that evangelism would have no purpose. These are good concerns to have, because it shows a love for evangelism, the lost, and fruitful labor. They will be addressed before I challenge some of the ways Arminianism or non-predestination theologies influence evangelism.

Obedience and Joy

First of all, the Bible commands Christians to preach the good news. Whether you believe in predestination or not, disobedience is disobedience. God will never respond positively to active disobedience under the guise of theological nuance. That being said, there is more to evangelism than cold, hard obedience. Predestination creates an entire perspective shift concerning evangelism that, when brought to fruition, yields a thrillingly joyful missionary life.

In Calvinist theology, God sends the missionary as a mouthpiece to preach the word of Christ, which the Holy Spirit uses to cause sinners to be born again and have their sins forgiven, and this word is the gospel of Jesus Christ. In other words, the missionary is an instrument that God uses to redeem sinners. God accomplishes this by nurturing the missionary through the Holy Spirit, who dwells within the heart of the missionary. When the missionary opens his mouth to preach the doctrines and news of the gospel that he found in the Bible, the Holy Spirit works in the heart of some listeners causing them to be born again and thus enabling them to believe in Christ for their salvation. Predestination becomes significant in every instance where God is involved, and God is thoroughly involved in every portion.

When predestination is properly understood, it is clear that it does not destroy the work of the missionary, nor does it leave any excuse for not evangelizing (except, perhaps, that the Holy Spirit is not in you).

The Arminian believes that God has granted enough grace to every person alive to be able to exercise a free-will choice in which he may accept or deny Jesus, so the evangelism process looks something like this: God works in a missionary, sends a the missionary to sinners, the missionary communicates the gospel in a way that stimulates the sinner to choose to accept Jesus rather than deny him, then the atonement for sins is applied to the new believer upon his acceptance.

Not Responsible for Results

As you will notice in the Calvinist explanation of evangelism, the missionary is only involved with two parts of the salvation experience. The first is his own spiritual growth, where he is led by the Holy Spirit to the Bible, and the second is the preaching of the gospel. Neither of these actions are easy to accomplish, but they are at least not complicated to understand.

Notice though that there is an additional burden on the Arminian missionary: he must also convince the sinner to make the correct choice. This is where often the high calling of evangelism is blended with human salesmanship. Naturally, with all types of salesmanship, those features that are particularly attractive to people are exaggerated and those features that are difficult or unpalatable are ignored or under-emphasized. This will cause a natural tendency to speak less about sin, repentance, crucifixion, taking up the cross, and counting the cost of being Jesus’ disciple and instead emphasize secondary side-thoughts like God’s plans for your life, cures for your emotional pain, and finding peace from overbearing stress. In such cases, the purity of the gospel is compromised due to an artificial need to convince.

The Danger: It Works

The dangerous thing about applying the marketing method to evangelism is that it is highly successful in generating decisions of acceptance of Jesus, but highly unsuccessful at making true disciples. In the heat of apparent revival, the marketing methods will seem to be working well, but after a season of trial the missionary will discover that many of his converts never deeply believed in the true gospel and the church is full of people who seemed to be converted, but were really just attracted to the side-orders that come with the Christian life.

We must battle against this type of pragmatism, knowing that the gospel is the power of God for salvation, not techniques and salesmanship.

Pornography and You

I don’t claim to know a lot about everything, and I am certainly not the most righteous person to walk this earth, but I believe that I have some wise words about pornography. I wish I could explain how important this is. We should all be able to agree that pornography is a sin. It is a gross sin that is one that is particularly honed in towards you feeling guilt.

If you are often tempted to tell lies, I doubt you will feel nearly as guilty as if you are often tempted to look at porn. That is not to say that lies are less sinful, but it is to hopefully fully state the feeling of being hooked on porn. Porn generates a debilitating amount of guilt that you feel after viewing it , and all for good reason. Porn is a disgusting sin. I agreed with this assessment totally. My problem though, was that all anyone could ever tell me about is how bad it is, how much i needed to stop, and how much i needed an accountability partner.

I agreed and agreed and agreed,
but I sinned and sinned and sinned.

I sinned, all the while fully knowing that it is wrong. I sinned, wishing that I knew how to actually fight the sin, but i still sinned. Some people may say that it was just a simple choice that I needed to make. That may have been the case, but I found it impossible to make the right one. I was completely unequipped to fight the sin. All I knew to do to fight the sin was to try to manipulate my mood, but if I saw something that whet my pornographic appetite, all hope was lost.

I could not feel qualified to do any good work, and I felt totally enslaved. But all the while, no one told me how to actually fight sin.

Does it seem like you could be writing this? You don’t have to be talking about pornography, but on some level, whatever the most tempting sin in your life is, I would venture to guess that you can relate to this feeling.

I have found the key to fighting sin, or perhaps more accurately, God has shown it to me. Now pay very close attention. It is really so straight foreword that it is easy to discredit it, or say, “oh yeah i already know that.” Don’t do that.

There is only one thing that can actually fight sin. There are thousands of things you can do to restrain sin, but they are never there when you need them and they are torturous. There is only one thing that you can do to actually fight your sin.

You must preach to yourself the gospel.

It seems too obvious, but it turned out my ideas about the gospel had everything to do with seven year-olds getting saved and nothing to do with my sin problem today. Let me demonstrate what I mean for a second. I’ll put it in practical terms. All alone, in front of the internet screen. Idea pops into your head. Google search terms start racing and mental pictures start forming. You lock your door. Then it hits you, “I really shouldn’t do this.”

Right now, you need to preach yourself the gospel. You need to have the gospel so committed to memory that whenever you need to proclaim it, you have it ready. Until then, you may want to keep this explanation handy.

Say something like this,

“The gospel, is the news that God, aware of my sin problem, became a man in the form of Jesus Christ. Having made commandments, God is furious with me that I would venture to break them. He is furious that I could take such joy in watching women be defiled [and every other sin imaginable]. And so Jesus Christ the God-man lived a perfect life. He was entirely righteous and there was no trace of sin in him. Fulfilling the prophesies he was betrayed by one of his own and willingly, nay purposefully went to the sinner’s cross, only after sweating blood in the garden from praying so fervently in anticipation of God turning his face from him. He was beaten, crushed, and nailed. The crowds blasphemed in front of him, mocking his royal claims by placing a crown of thorns on his head. His disciples abandoned him. God poured the cup of wrath on Jesus and he drank every drop, and looked away in disgust of the sin that his Son has borne. Jesus died. Now all who believe in him and repent will be justified and have all of their sins forgiven. But we wont have to worship a dead man, because Jesus rose from the dead. He has defeated the power of sin. All who believe he has made slaves to righteousness and has given freedom to the captive. This is the gospel.”

Then you close the lid on your computer, and you realize something. Jesus, the Son of God has acted. You are suddenly loving Christ. You are suddenly treasuring Christ more than pornography. You suddenly don’t feel like you have to punish yourself into fighting it or trick yourself into taking your mind off of it. The love of Jesus has, by grace, taught you to love him back, and has wiped your record clean. Sin has lost its power and you are free.
That is how you fight pornography. That is how you fight sin.

You Need to Hear the Gospel Today (and Every Day)

This is probably the most important thread I have written for Founder and Perfecter. Not that it is any big deal to speak from my life, but this biblical message has had such a profound impact on me, that I must share it.

This message is the gospel.

Because you are on this blog, you probably believe you are a Christian. This message is for you. You may not be a Christian. You may already be a Christian. No matter who you are or what you currently believe, you need the gospel.

I grew up in a church that implicitly taught that the gospel is a message for unbelievers. Every time the gospel was ever told it was phrased, “maybe you have never accepted Jesus into your heart.” All the while, I, sitting in the pew would think, “I accepted Jesus into my heart when I was 7. This is just for the unbelievers.”

I was wrong. Oh how greatly I was wrong.

I commit sins frequently. So do you. If you don’t agree, you need to read the law of God. The 10 commandments are not fun to read. I did not enjoy reading James saying, “whoever knows what good he ought to do but does not do it, for him it is sin.” I especially hated reading Paul saying, “everything that does not stem from faith is sin.” Again James would chime in with, “For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.” It didn’t help for Jesus to tell me that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully is guilty of adultery, and anyone who hates his brother is guilty of murder. If you don’t feel despair, you are probably feeling pride, and have been guilty of breaking the whole law the whole time.

My conscience bore witness against me that I needed to stop sinning. I wanted to. I tried to. I failed. Time after time. Like clockwork. I might once concoct some punishment scheme and for a short season stay clean until I relapsed. Another time I might manipulate my thinking. I failed in due time.

All the advice people would offer was no help. Everyone had some clever thought, or tried to pretend like they didn’t know what it was like to be tempted to sin. I got a whole lot of moralizing, but the more I was convinced that I needed to do better, the worse I did. The guiltier I felt. I just wanted to die.

Jesus was my savior. He saved me through the gospel.

What is the gospel?
The gospel is the news that Jesus Christ, an eternal person of the triune God, became a human being. He lived and was tempted in every way, but sinned not. Jesus willingly subjected himself to death on a cross. He was betrayed by one of his own, denounced by the others. He prayed to the point of shedding his blood in the hours leading up to his betrayal from one of the 12 people closest to him. He was beaten severely. God poured out his wrathful anger at my sins on Jesus Christ. It please the Lord to crush him. Jesus drank every drop of wrath that fell from the cup. The crowds jeered. He was blindfolded and struck, then mocked saying, “prophesy! which one of us struck you?” They mocked his kingly claim by pressing a crown of thorns into his skull. He did not open his lips except to forgive a man who sinned against him, to bewail the turning of God’s face from him, to state, “father forgive them, for they know not what they do,” and to say, “it is finished.” He was buried in a tomb. On the third day, Jesus rose from the dead, eternally defeating all of his enemies, and destroying the power of the devil. He walked among men for while longer showing his resurrected, scarred body to multitudes, then he ascended into Heaven that he may reign at the right hand of the Father. He sent a Comforter who was called the Interpreter, that is the Holy Spirit. By grace alone, through faith alone, he imputed Christ’s righteousness to all who believe and has made propitiation for our sins, so that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, only everlasting joy. All who believe will see his beauty face to face and not fall down dead from sin, but be eternally satisfied, forever.

That is the gospel. The gospel breaks the power of forgiven sin. I repent. I believe. I am forgiven. God uses the gospel to hold us close to him, and it is God that keeps us in the faith. I have the power to stop sinning without animalistic restraint or raw obedience. Glory to the lamb that was slain!

If you have never heard this message, I am truly sorry, believe it today and read about even more of the details in the Bible (I would recommend reading John). If you have heard it before but never believed it, believe it today. If you are like the rest of us who have believed this before, believe that this still applies to you today.

You never outgrow your need for the gospel. Ever. You don’t just hear the gospel, get saved and then devote the rest of your life to raw obedience! You get saved through the gospel and you get strong through the gospel. Don’t run away, don’t rebel, don’t put it off. Believe. If you do not believe, read it again. If you still do not believe, read the gospels in the Bible (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). Read about it until you believe. Truly, God is merciful and I believe that he will show you the truth. Keep your eyes fixed on the one with the power to keep you from sinning and to save you from sin.