Author Archives

David Servant

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Deception is an Election

In last month’s e-teaching, There’s a Sheep Born Every Second, we considered what we should do to avoid being deceived or misled by false spiritual leaders, those wolves in sheep’s clothing of which Jesus warned us. Obviously, God doesn’t want us, or anyone for that matter, to be deceived regarding spiritual and eternal matters. He wants everyone to know and believe the truth (see 1 Tim. 2:4). For that reason we might ask, If God doesn’t want anyone to be deceived, why doesn’t He just put an end to deception and deceivers?

The Bible’s answer to that question is quite interesting, and it opens a vista of insight into the very purpose of life itself.

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A Little Leaven…

Some years ago when I was a pastor, I walked into my church office after a Sunday morning service to find a sandwich bag on my desk containing three chocolate brownies. Some thoughtful and anonymous saint who knew my love for chocolate had placed them there, along with a piece of paper that had a short story written on it. I immediately sat down and began eating the first brownie as I read the following story:

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The Inward Voice

Although the Law of Moses was given to the descendants of Israel sometime around 1440 B.C., God had already given the entire human race another Law that predated the Mosaic Law by at least 2,500 years—a Law that He wrote upon every human heart. To that Law He held every person accountable, and against that Law every person sinned, which is why people died from Adam until Moses. As Paul points out:

So death spread to all men, because all sinned—for until the Law [of Moses] sin was in the world; but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses (Rom. 5:12b-14a).

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“Judge Not!”

Anyone who holds to any standard of righteousness in our “culture of tolerance” is in trouble. If you say, for example, that homosexuality is a perversion, abortion is murder, sex outside of marriage is a sin, or that Jesus is the only way to heaven, get ready to be labeled. You will be categorized as “intolerant,” because intolerance is not tolerated in our culture. You may also be branded as close-minded, because our culture is not open-minded to anyone who is “close-minded.” You may be criticized for being critical. And you will probably be branded as unloving, because our culture just hates people who aren’t “loving.” They really should start putting bumper stickers on their cars that say, “I Do Not Tolerate People Who Are Intolerant.”

Quite often, those who are are not tolerant of “intolerant” Christians even cite the Bible to prove how wrong intolerance is. “Judge not!” they quote Jesus as saying. They construe Christ’s words to mean that no one has the right to make a moral appraisal of anyone else. In so doing, however, they make a moral appraisal of those whom they accuse of making moral appraisals. If you say,”Homosexuality is wrong,” they say, “Don’t judge!,” and in the process they commit the very crime of which they find you guilty.

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Hurricane Jesus, Part 2

This month’s e-teaching about Hurricane Katrina and God’s wrath elicited quite a few e-responses, and the encouraging ones outnumbered the not-so-encouraging ones by about fifteen to one. (Read Hurricane Jesus, Part 1)

picture of sign, 'Hurricane Jesus,' in front of blowing palm trees

With the ratio of favorable to not-as-favorable responses being so lopsided, I debated if I should address, in another e-teaching, the objections of those who disagreed with me. In the end, I decided to respond for at least three reasons. First, because the letters of disagreement were for the most part written by sincere people who graciously shared their objections. Second, at one time I would have agreed with quite a few of the objections that were made. That certainly motivated me to be merciful toward my detractors. And third, although only a few people who wrote disagreed, I happen to know that their objections are shared by many others, having heard them for years around the world. What is at stake is eternal salvation for everyone who might hear an explanation of Hurricane Katrina that effectively nullifies the fear of God and His call to repentance. And with Rita now bearing down on Texas, it seems the Lord Himself is repeating His message.

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A Silly Gospel

Last month’s E-Teaching, God’s Love/Hate Relationship with the World, about God’s love/hate relationship with the world drew some mixed response from sincere people. Some of the questions that were asked and objections that were made were so good that I thought it would be beneficial for everyone to answer them in this month’s E-Teaching. Most of the questions naturally revolved around the concept of God’s hatred of sinners (rather than His mercy upon them), as that concept is so foreign to our ears. Below I’ve paraphrased some of those questions and objections (and added a few of my own) and then done my best to answer them.

If you are a new subscriber or didn’t read last month’s article, God’s Love/Hate Relationship with the World, it would be good to do that so you have a reference for what follows . You might also read the article before that one as well, Christian Clichés that Contradict Christ, as that is where I first introduced the topic of God’s approving love and His merciful love. In those two articles, I tried to explain how God loves and doesn’t love people, and my primary concern is that God’s love for the unrepentant is often greatly misunderstood—to the detriment of His holiness and righteous wrath. If we misunderstand God’s true character, we are likely to misunderstand the gospel.

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God’s Love/Hate Relationship with the World

In last month’s e-teaching, Christian Clichés that Contradict Christ, I questioned the truthfulness of six Christian clichés concerning God’s “unconditional” love. There was one more cliché that I wanted to mention but didn’t have enough space, the very common saying, “God loves the sinner but hates his sin.”

This particular cliché is actually more biblically accurate than the six I listed last month, because it attempts to affirm God’s love for sinners while at the same time upholding His holiness. Yet like the six clichés I listed last month, this one also falls short of the full truth, and it can thus be misleading to people and damaging to Christ’s cause. Why do I say this? One reason is because Scripture not only teaches that God loves sinners, but also that He hates them. Surprised? Read for yourself:

The boastful shall not stand before Your eyes; You hate all who do iniquity. You destroy those who speak falsehood; the Lord abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit (Ps. 5:5-6, emphasis added).

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Christian Clichés that Contradict Christ

It has been said that if you repeat something often enough, people will start to believe it, even if it isn’t true. This certainly seems to be true concerning many oft-repeated Christian clichés about God’s love. Consider the following statements that so frequently reverberate within our Christian circles:

1.) God loves everyone unconditionally.
2.) God loves everyone the same.
3.) There isn’t anything you can do to earn or deserve Jesus’ love.
4.) Jesus’ love for us is not based on our performance.
5.) There is nothing you can do that would make Jesus stop loving you.
6.) There is nothing you can do to make Jesus love you more or less than He does right now.

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Is it Biblical to “Accept Jesus as Your Savior”?

My friend Bernie Koerselman is a retired attorney who now teaches the Bible like he used to practice law—relentlessly searching for the truth. His favorite topic is the nature of saving faith. He wrote a book on that subject that we often give to pastors in our leadership conferences around the world.

Bernie sent me an article he recently wrote that I wanted to share with you, but it was too long for our monthly e-teaching format. So I made a deal with Bernie, and he has allowed me to summarize what he had to say. What follows is that summary.

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So Glad for Guilt

Guilt, that nagging feeling on the inside, is something with which everyone is quite familiar. It doesn’t discriminate on the basis of race, gender or culture. It starts working in us from a very young age and never lets up our entire lives. We are wired with it, like animal instinct. Its universality actually betrays its divine origin. God has programmed every heart with His moral law. Paul wrote,

For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness, and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus (Rom. 2:14-16).