Jesus Tolerance or Truth

Jesus' teaching on the narrow gate, a part of the Sermon on the Mount, is found in Matt. 7:13-14. The question being raised here is whether or not Jesus was being narrow-minded as he spoke of only one gate, of only one way, that would lead to eternal life. That is a pertinent question in the time in which we live, a time in which many are questioning Christianity, making accusations that it is exclusive and intolerant. Here is what Jesus said: "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it." (NKJV)

As human beings, we sometimes believe and act upon wrong premises that can do us much harm. To use myself, as an example, I once believed and acted on the premise that if a person exercised faithfully and intensely he could eat anything he wanted and not have to worry about diabetes. I found out differently when I developed insulin resistance, but until the truth hit me squarely in the face, that was what I believed and the way I lived my life.

In America today, we have begun to think that the ultimate good is tolerance, and we are acting on that premise. We are so convinced that this is the case that we are closing our minds to other possibilities much like I had closed my own mind to the possibility of a man like me getting diabetes. Let me ask a question. Is tolerance of greater value than truth? Are we better off with a tolerant Jesus or a truthful Jesus? If we could have only one or the other, which would we be better off with?

A wholly tolerant Jesus would mean the end of justice, the end of righteousness. Would one want to live in a society that was totally devoid of justice? Could one live peacefully in such a society? How does one call heaven a place of joy if tolerance allows in the willfully lawless and rebellious, the evildoers and the vile, the unrepentant? God is indeed longsuffering, but he is not tolerant without end, nor would justice allow it.

If we believe Jesus was God's son, spoke by inspiration, and never sinned, then he spoke the truth about the two gates between which men must choose. There are only two and we all must choose one or the other and thus the corresponding path we will take to death's door and eternity. One must either accept what Jesus said as truth or else deem him a liar and no saint at all, let alone God and Savior. If Jesus is a liar, then you can forget about heaven and eternal life.

Jesus and Christianity are being challenged in America today by postmodernism, secularism, relativism, multiculturalism, feminism, humanism, Darwinism, atheism, nihilism, hedonism, by just about every "ism" you can think of. Our culture has changed so much in the last fifty years that today Jesus is no longer seen necessarily as good, as was the case in the days of my youth, but rather as one who is somewhat arrogant, self-serving, and intolerant. How dare he give us only an either/or alternative—his way or the highway.

The very fact he has given us an alternative to the wide gate and broad way that leads to destruction is no longer seen as grace, but rather as a threat of violence if we do not choose it. Instead of being thankful that we have an option, not just of escaping from destruction but of partaking in a glorious, joyful eternal life, many of us end up murmuring and complaining.

It reminds me of what Paul said when he wrote to the Galatians. "Have I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth?" (Gal. 4:16 NKJV) Has Jesus become our enemy because he told us the truth about the two gates? A man tells us the truth, and we resent it. Many among us have decided to reject what Jesus has said as truth; we will deny it and refuse to accept it. We reject the New Testament.

Our problem is we want a third gate, one that is not difficult to enter and upon entering is easy to travel and leads to eternal bliss. Narrow gates, when posted on roads, lead to narrow roads, which are anathema in a society that prides itself on tolerance of everything man's imagination can devise.

We want broadmindedness in religion and morality, but if we had it, would we not think it to be somewhat of an anomaly? Broadmindedness does not work in math, chemistry, medicine, banking, or any other field of endeavor I can think of. We all want exactness in those things, and if we are not to have chaos, we must have it that way.

Narrowness is not equivalent to persecution, as so many think, but is rather a prescription for success, success for the reason that truth itself is narrow. Deviate from narrowness in obedience to traffic lights as you drive in the city, and you endanger not only your own life but the lives of others as well, and it will be just a matter of time until disaster strikes. Tolerance says let a man do it. Truth says your tolerance will get someone killed.

It has always amazed me that man tries to make himself out to be God and make the rules that govern life when he cannot make one hair white or black (Matt. 5:36) and is totally helpless when death's door opens. He thinks he can play God, make the rules, and knows better than what God has said, and then has the audacity to accuse God of arrogance. Perhaps a mirror would be helpful.

I have often asked myself the question why men do not believe or make an effort to live faithful lives. What is the answer? Is it unbelief based on the intellect, on the study of the evidence about Christ where the New Testament is found to be wanting, based on myth, fairy tales, and fantasy? Well, the apostles knew whether or not Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to them after the resurrection, and if he did not, what was to be gained by becoming martyrs? None of them became rich televangelists. There was nothing to be gained if it was all a lie, based on falsehood.

People do not reject Christianity based on evidence. It is rejected, and no attempt is made to live the life, because the human will finds the broad way more appealing. The gate to that road is broad and easy to enter, the road is wide and easy to travel, everyone is accepted, there are no restrictions, no speed limits, no policing of it, any lifestyle is accepted, sin does not exist on it for sin is not in the vocabulary of those who travel it, at least not in their own lives. The Bible defines sin as "the transgression of the law" (1 John 3:4 KJV), the law of God. Take God out of the picture, and there is no sin. Men may come up with moral standards, but if history teaches anything, it is that there is no "one size fits all" when it comes to man making moral law.

It is a world without God, without foundation, without any hope other than that God may accept you in the afterlife despite the fact you rejected him your entire earthly life and did so of your own free will. He told us about this other gate and other way, but we said we would have none of it, and now, at the end of the way, we do not like where the road ends. All roads do eventually end; the road reaches its destination.

"The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own power; and my people love to have it so, but what will you do in the end?" (Jer. 5:31 NKJV)

What happens, in the end, is easy enough to explain. "God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life." (Gal. 6:7-8 NKJV)

Two gates, two ways of life, two destinations, life's choices. Was Jesus being narrow? Jesus was being truthful; Jesus was giving grace. Jesus was as tolerant as truth would allow and showed truth to be the greater value. Grace, which one could argue is a godly form of tolerance, was shown in giving us the knowledge of the facts and in providing the way of salvation. All that remains is human choice, man's free will to choose. The human heart is revealed in the choice that is made.

One final word: there is no such thing as not choosing a gate. An "I will decide later" approach is in reality a failure to choose the narrow gate and thus puts you in the wide gate and broad way that the many are traveling. It is not hard to enter a wide gate; thus no real effort is required. A narrow gate is another matter. You only get in that gate if you want in and make an effort. The choice is ours, but Jesus has already told us which road the many will choose. We can go with the crowd or take the road less traveled.

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The End of New Testament Miracles

Have miracles ceased? They have if we are talking about the kind of miracles performed by Jesus, the apostles, and those possessed of spiritual gifts in New Testament times. The purpose of those miracles was to confirm that the word spoken was from God. Such confirmation was needed. Put yourself in the shoes of those living back then. Here one comes into your midst claiming to speak for God. Is he delusional, a madman? Is he a charlatan? Why should I give him the time of day?

People speak of blind faith. The kind of faith the Bible demands of men is not blind faith but faith built upon reason, based on the word of God, confirmed by miracles. I believe not because I am naive and will believe anything and will buy bridges in deserts but rather because God said, "come now, and let us reason together." (Isa. 1:18 NKJV) I have done that--reasoning based on the word of God confirmed by miracles.

Why was the tomb of Jesus empty on the third day? Why could the Romans not find the body of Jesus? Why did they not even look for it? What profit was there to be had in preaching Jesus as did Peter and the other apostles if they knew they had stolen the body and hidden it? Was there money in it? Was there power? Was there security in doing so or danger? Why did those 12 men put their lives on the line to preach the gospel? Faith built on reasoning with the truth, a truth confirmed by the greatest miracle of all--the resurrection of Christ, is not emotionalism. The unbeliever cannot explain the empty tomb nor can they explain the lives of the apostles.

The word spoken, however, would have little effect upon men in a day and age when revelation was not yet completed, indeed was just beginning to be given, without miracles accompanying it. The people living in places like Asia (modern-day Turkey), Greece, and other remote locations knew nothing of Jesus originally. His life, his death, his resurrection were not broadcast over TV, all over the Internet, and were not in newspaper headlines. We have to put ourselves back in their time to understand what their situation was. When a man like Paul arrives in your village, the question is who is this man? What is he talking about?

The Bible thus says that after Jesus gave the Great Commission in Mark 16:15-16, the eleven, that soon became the twelve, "went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs." (Mark 16:20 NKJV) Paul spoke of the signs of an apostle. He said in speaking to the Corinthians, "In nothing was I behind the most eminent apostles, though I am nothing. Truly the signs of an apostle were accomplished among you with all perseverance, in signs and wonders and mighty deeds." (2 Cor. 12:11-12 NKJV) In his first letter to them, the Corinthians, he says of his preaching that it was, "in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God." (1 Cor. 2:4-5 NKJV) "Power" is a reference to the miraculous.

The writer of the book of Hebrews also spoke of the same sort of thing, "God also bearing witness (with them--the speakers--DS) both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to his own will." (Heb. 2:4 NKJV) So we clearly see the purpose behind miracles, signs, wonders, gifts of the Holy Spirit, the miraculous in general, when the word was being preached to people who knew it not.

The Bible also gives us a second reason or purpose for spiritual gifts in the New Testament church. After a person became convinced of the truth of the gospel and obeyed it, what then? He cannot order a Bible or New Testament from Amazon or AbeBooks or go to Wal-Mart and purchase one. Not only that, but the New Testament has not yet been given in its entirety.

The complete revelation of the New Testament, the Bible calls it the new covenant, occurred over the course of a few decades in the first century, not instantly in a year or two. The books were in the process of being written and delivered. How do the members of the church know how to live? How do they know right from wrong? The answer was spiritual gifts given by God for the purpose of instructing the church in righteous living.

Paul says of these gifts, "the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all." (1 Cor. 12:7 NKJV) He is talking about spiritual gifts. Whatever your gift was (he gives a list of them in 1 Cor. 12:8-10, see also verse 28), it was to be used to profit everyone, not just yourself. "Even so you, since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, let it be for the edification of the church that you seek to excel." (1 Cor. 14:12 NKJV) Edification means to build up spiritually. "Let all things be done for edification." (1 Cor. 14:26 NKJV)

Understanding the purpose behind miracles and spiritual gifts helps one greatly in understanding a passage written by Paul found right in the middle of his discussion of spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians chapters 12-14, a passage where he declares that there will be an end to spiritual gifts not when Christ comes again but before then. I refer to 1 Cor. 13:8-13.

"Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love." (1 Cor. 13:8-13 NKJV)

Let us note some things from this passage. Paul says plainly that prophecies will fail, tongues will cease, and knowledge (talking about miraculously given knowledge) will vanish. The question then becomes when. Can we find out? Yes!

Something will abide after these spiritual gifts have ceased. What will that be? Faith, hope, and love. What does that mean? Well, for one thing, it means that if hope still abides after spiritual gifts are gone, the spiritual gifts will be gone before Jesus returns, the second coming. We still "hope" after the gifts have vanished, but why am I hoping if Christ has already returned and I am now in possession of that for which I had been hoping? Once you have received that which you were hoping for, you do not continue to hope for it--there is no need. Do not let anyone tell you that spiritual gifts are going to last until Jesus returns. This passage destroys that false doctrine. One must understand that prophecy, tongues, and inspired knowledge as spiritual gifts were representative of all spiritual gifts in that all were to vanish, not just those three.

That which "is perfect" in the passage is the final total revealed will of Christ--the completed revelation of Christ--the New Testament in its totality of inspired teaching. Again, revelation was not all given in a single day or a single year. It was a matter of a gradual revealing of the truth over a few decades in the first century until all was given that was to be given. Perhaps reading 1 Cor. 13:10 will help you see this when read from another translation, "But when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away." (1 Cor. 13:10 ESV) Spiritual gifts were the partial, completed revelation was the "perfect."

One has to bear in mind that the word "perfect" often means "complete" in New Testament usage, and this passage is an example of it. The International Standard Version of the Bible translates 1 Cor. 13:10, "But when what is complete comes, then what is incomplete will be done away with." (ISV) The New Living Translation has it as follows, "But when full understanding comes, these partial things will become useless." (NLT) Full understanding came when full revelation was complete.

Another passage teaching the same thing is Eph. 4:11-15, "And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head - Christ." (NKJV)

Note that apostles and prophets were to be only for a time--note the word "till" in verse 13. When would the "till" arrive? We can figure that out. We have enough information to do that. Note that when that time arrives, we will no longer be children tossed about by every wind of doctrine. This tells us that when the "till" comes, when "we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood" (Eph. 4:13 ESV), that false doctrine will still be taught but we will no longer be carried about by it. This means we are talking about a time prior to the return of Christ, for upon his return, false doctrine becomes a thing of the past. So again we prove that miracles, spiritual gifts, etc., are not to last until the return of Christ. They are gone before his return. So again, do not let anyone tell you that miracles and spiritual gifts are to last until Christ's return.

But one might object to this argument on the grounds that if this be true, then it would also eliminate evangelists, pastors, and teachers. Yes, it would--those miraculously qualified to do the work by being the recipient of a spiritual gift. One needs to bear in mind, however, that with the completed revelation of Christ to man, one no longer needed spiritual gifts to qualify or enable him for that work.

Also, beware lest you be led astray thinking that since what is called Christendom today is divided that "the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God" never arrived. Yes, that has been lost today, but that does not mean they never had it say back in 120 A.D. (just using that date as an example). Believe it or not, there was a time when things were not like they are today. Besides, there is a sense in which we all have the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God. It is the Bible.

The unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God and how to obtain to mature spiritual manhood in Christ are found in the pages of the completed New Testament. Outside the New Testament, you can know nothing of or about Christ or of the faith aside from some Old Testament prophetic utterances. If you are carried about by false doctrine, you need not be. That is what you have a New Testament for--so you will not be led into false doctrine and can know the truth if you really want to know it.

What are the implications of miracles having ceased? Let me say to start that the implications are so great that some religious bodies will never accept it as fact for the simple reason it would destroy them as a religious body. If a religious group's very existence is dependent on the continuation of miracles, that is an exceedingly strong incentive to fight for them and argue for them and not accept New Testament teaching on the subject.

Remember, the purpose of miracles was to confirm the word. If you still want the world to believe you are a source of revealed authoritative teaching and preaching, teaching that cannot be found in the pages of the New Testament (emphasis here), received directly from God, then you must have miracles to confirm the word. You cannot have the Catholic Church without miracles, can you? If they want to hand down law and claim God's authority for it, then they have to have God performing miracles among them. No choice about it.

The Catholic Church claims authority and teaches many doctrines that cannot be found in the pages of the New Testament (I think they will agree with me on this). Why should any man believe them? There is only one reason--miracles. They must make the claim of miracles being performed among them and do their best to get people to believe they are genuine. They will never accept that miracles have ceased. If you are Catholic, logic requires that you believe in modern-day miracles. The miracles confirm that God is among them, approving of them and their teaching. They must have miracles to maintain their authority. They will have their miracles with no New Testament passages bothering them.

One must remember the Catholic Church believes authority resides with them and not solely with the New Testament. They are not willing to accept the New Testament alone as the final authority in religion. This is not news to anyone familiar with the Catholic Church.

Pentecostal groups have a different motivation. As far as I know, they have not tried to get humanity to think that God hands down law today through them, law not found in the New Testament, but they have misunderstood the New Testament. Their existence does depend on the continuation of miracles and spiritual gifts. All know this who know anything about them. If miracles have ceased, they are left high and dry, out in the cold, and have taught false doctrine. They must fight against what has been taught in this article. If miracles have ceased, as I have been teaching, then where does that leave Pentecostalism?

One must remember that doctrine does not exist in a vacuum. Every doctrine has implications. As we all from time to time examine our beliefs, we would do well to see where our thinking leads. We must accept the implications, for we really have no choice unless we are to throw all logic and reason out the window.

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Ignorance Does Not Excuse Sin

God does not consider ignorance an excuse for sin and will not overlook a sin because you or I were ignorant of the sin when we committed it. The verse that teaches this is found in Lev. 5:17, “If a person sins, and commits any of these things which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of the Lord, though he does not know it, yet he is guilty and shall bear his iniquity.” (NKJV) (See also Lev. 4:1-2, 13, 22, 27 and Lev. 5:2 and 5:15 bearing in mind as you read that to sin unintentionally in these verses is to sin in ignorance.)

God's nature is such that he cannot bear nor tolerate sin. The Psalmist said, in a prophecy of Jesus, “You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness more than your companions.” (Psalm 45:7 NKJV) Jesus hates wickedness and wickedness is just another name for sin. God's people are also to hate evil. “You who love the Lord, hate evil!” (Psalm 97:10 NKJV) That is what it will take within us to develop a Christ-like character. “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil.” (Prov. 8:13 NKJV) “Hate evil, love good.” (Amos 5:5 NKJV)

Since, as the Psalmist says in Psalm 119:172, “all your commandments are righteousness” (NKJV), deviation from them, whether it be intentional or not, is unrighteousness, thus evil, thus the thing God cannot tolerate and hates. In Isaiah 61:8 the Lord says, “For I, the Lord, love justice.” (NKJV) Thus when Jesus returns to judge the world he will be judging it in righteousness. (Acts 17:31)

It is obvious that if God had not loved us and intervened on our behalf his righteousness would have demanded our condemnation for our sins, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Rom. 3:23 NKJV) Fortunately, God does love us and did intervene for us by sending Jesus into the world to be a propitiation for our sins (1 John 4:10) which simply means Jesus paid the penalty for our sins so that we will not have to. This allowed God to be just in punishing sin, for in Jesus and the cross he did punish it, and yet give unto us a way to be saved through faith in Jesus. This is the gospel story.

We need to make applications of these truths regarding sin and ignorance. What do we learn?

(1) The person who has never heard the gospel is lost. We all have a tendency to say to ourselves, based on emotion, not the truth of God's word, that if a person lives in a remote land far away where the gospel has not been taught and/or it is not readily available to him he will be saved without the gospel. The Bible teaches just the opposite.

Why go preach the gospel anywhere if a person is saved without it? Why bother a man if he can be saved, and already is, without the gospel? If a man is saved without the gospel it is better to leave him that way than to teach him the gospel. Why? Because if you teach him the gospel and he rejects it he will be lost.

Why did God command the gospel be preached in all the world to every creature (Mark 16:15 NKJV) if it is not needed? If a man can be saved in his sins then the conclusion must be that sin is no big deal and Jesus died for nothing. Do we believe that?

(2) Another lesson learned is that there is an enormous burden upon Christians to preach the gospel throughout every corner of the world no matter how remote. If a person is lost without the gospel and we were commanded to take the gospel to them (the Great Commission) but did not nor did we make any efforts to do so then what becomes not only of those who did not hear but to those of us who made no effort that they might hear?

(3) Another lesson we learn from this is that if ignorance is not an excuse that God will accept then it is our duty to study and work as hard as we can to learn all we can about God's word. We accept the fact we will be saved by God's grace and not by perfection in commandment keeping and rejoice in that but, that having been said, what about the individual that takes a lackadaisical attitude toward learning God's will and obeying his commands? Does God's grace cover man's indifference?

Does a man want to try and go to heaven as one who never cared enough about God and his will to try and learn his commands so he could obey them? I fear such a man may well meet up with 2 Tim. 2:15 on the Day of Judgment, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Tim. 2:15 NKJV) The indifferent man has not been much of a worker in God's word.

God's grace covers only a certain class of Christians and that class does not include the lukewarm and indifferent. Jesus described the church at Laodicea as wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked (Rev. 3:17) and says, “So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth.” (Rev. 3:16 NKJV) God's grace is not for the lukewarm, indifferent, and disobedient unless and until they repent.

In closing, I reiterate ignorance does not excuse sin with God. We have an obligation to live a life of knowledge, which means for all of us it is time to get the Bible out and read and study it. The old King James Version says, “Study to show thyself approved to God.” (2 Tim. 2:15) Let us not sin because of willful ignorance of God's word—willful in that we prove ourselves to be too indifferent and lazy to study and try to learn from it.

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Jesus on Old Testament Miracles

One cannot claim he has faith in a man and yet doubt that man's veracity. Our only choice is to believe what a man says or disbelieve it. Such is the case with Jesus. We either believe in Jesus as a man whose word can be trusted or we disbelieve him; we consider his word as unreliable; it is either one or the other. If his word is at times unreliable, you never know when to believe him and when not to. He cannot be fully trusted.

This article comes as a result of a sermon I heard in which the preacher made the comment that with many people today, everything in the Bible is seen as figurative or symbolic and thus not to be taken at face value. To be specific, everything that seems incredible, the miraculous, is simply the use of figures and symbols to make a spiritual point; thus, when scripture is looked at in this way, one does not have to deal with the supernatural in the affairs of men for the simple reason that the supernatural never happened.

Viewing scripture this way presents some very real problems for many of the things people wish to deny Jesus declared to be factual. The problem then becomes, do you believe Jesus or do you think he lied or, at the very least, was mistaken. I thought it would be good to compile a list of some of the things Jesus spoke of in such a way as to confirm their reality.

The listing was compiled by starting in Matthew and just taking events in the order in which I found them in a red-letter edition of the New Testament. Thus, the reason we start with Sodom and Gomorrah is that it was the first confirmation I came to of an Old Testament miraculous event Jesus confirmed as I ran my finger up and down the pages of Matthew—Matt. 10:15. I quote the Luke passage, for it is more in-depth than Matthew, but I will include what Matthew quotes Jesus saying as well.

(1) Jesus confirms Sodom and Gomorrah and what happened there, saying, "Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all." (Luke 17:28-29 NKJV) "Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!" (Matt. 10:15 NKJV) The words Jesus spoke confirm what the Old Testament had to say about Sodom and Gomorrah. Did Jesus lie? Can one believe the Bible account of Sodom and Gomorrah?

The Bible says, "the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the Lord." (Gen. 13:13 NKJV) In Gen. 18:20, Gomorrah is included with Sodom as a place whose "sin is very grievous." (Gen. 18:20 NKJV) In Gen. 19:5, we see the nature of their sin. Two angels came to Lot (Gen. 19:1), but their appearance was that of men (Gen. 19:5). The men of Sodom came to Lot and insisted that he "bring them out to us that we may know them carnally." (Gen. 19:5 NKJV) They were engaged in homosexuality, men with men engaging in unseemly sexual acts.

One cannot be an advocate of gay marriage and be a faithful Christian, not if he or she believes the Bible. In 1 Cor. 6:9-10, in the New Testament, not the Old, Paul, speaking by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, gives a list of those who "will not inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Cor. 6:9 NKJV) and says "do not be deceived" (1 Cor. 6:9 NKJV) about it. In that list, we find "homosexuals" and "sodomites." (1 Cor. 6:9 NKJV) Did Jesus lie about Sodom and Gomorrah? Do you believe what he said?

(2) Jesus confirms the story of "the prophet Jonah." (Matt. 12:39 NKJV) "But He answered and said to them, 'An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.'" (Matt. 12:39-40 NKJV)

Many people do not believe the story of Jonah, but Jesus says it happened. They think that a man could not survive in the belly of a giant fish for three days and nights, but the reason they reject it is that they discount the supernatural. They think scientifically that such a thing could not happen. My answer to that would be, of course not. Clearly, it is a supernatural event out of the norm, but the biblical text tells us as much.

This was no ordinary fish, for the Bible says, "the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah." (Jonah 1:17 NKJV) God made this giant fish for a specific purpose, put it in a specific location at just the right time, to do a specific task (swallow Jonah), and designed him in such a way that a man could survive inside him. Jesus said this happened. Did Jesus lie? Do you believe him?

Can we believe in Jesus, a supernatural being having no earthly father, and then say supernatural events have never happened, that miracles are just fairy tales? If the miraculous is always to be rejected, then who can believe in the virgin birth of Christ and/or his resurrection? How can we believe in our own resurrection if we do not believe in the miraculous?

Even if evolution were true, would that not also be just as much mind-boggling as the Bible's creation account? Both are beyond the realm of human reason and understanding, both incomprehensible by the human mind. Evolution is a mathematical impossibility and thus would be just as much a miracle as anything the Bible speaks of. Evolution has life evolving from non-living matter. If true, is that not a miracle? Both the evolutionist and the creationist believe in miracles, but one will admit as much while the other refuses to acknowledge it.

(3) Jesus confirms man's creation and Adam and Eve. "And He answered and said to them, 'Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning "made them male and female," and said, "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh"?'" (Matt. 19:4-5 NKJV) Thus man was a creation of God and did not evolve. There was a beginning, and at that time human beings, male and female, were created by God. Please note Jesus says you can read about this, "have you not read." (Matt. 19:4 NKJV) Thus, Jesus confirms the account given in Genesis of the creation.

Jesus further confirms the account of Adam and Eve as being real people and not mythological when he confirms the life and death of Abel. Since Abel was the son of Adam and Eve, then if there is no Adam and no Eve, there is no Abel. "Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar." (Matt. 23:34-35 NKJV) Jesus says Abel died a righteous man; thus, Abel did indeed live, the son of Adam and Eve.

If Adam and Eve were mythological instead of living human beings, the question arises, how about Abel? Was Abel also mythological? At what point in time do we move in the biblical account from mythological beings to actual living human beings? Jesus teaches that there was no mythology to it.

(4) Jesus confirms the flood account. "But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be." (Matt. 24:37-39 NKJV) Jesus says there was a flood, a man named Noah, and an ark. Who was taken away in the flood? Jesus says "took them all away," thus it was a universal flood. God said to Noah, "the end of all flesh has come before me." (Gen. 6:13 NKJV) Those who want a local flood only have to deal with these passages. Was Jesus a liar? Were only a part of them, a part of all flesh, taken away? Do you believe Jesus told the truth?

(5) Jesus confirms the burning bush incident. "But concerning the dead, that they rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the burning bush passage, how God spoke to him, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?" (Mark 12:26 NKJV) This was the bush that burned with fire but was not consumed (Exodus 3:2-3). A bush that burns with fire and yet is not consumed is a miracle. Jesus is saying the passage is legitimate and is putting his stamp of approval on the account being a matter of factual history.

(6) Jesus confirms the miraculous feeding of the widow in Zarephath and her son in 1 Kings 17 for approximately 3 years and 6 months. When Elijah met her, she had but barely enough food for that single day for herself and son (see 1 Kings 17:12), but Elijah speaks God’s word to her, "The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the LORD sends rain on the earth." (1 Kings 17:14 NKJV) That ended up being nearly 3 years and 6 months (see Luke 4:25).

Here is what Jesus said about that, confirming it as a real event, "But I tell you truly, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout all the land; but to none of them was Elijah sent except to Zarephath, in the region of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow." (Luke 4:25-26 NKJV)

(7) Jesus confirms the miraculous healing from leprosy of Naaman. "And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian." (Luke 4:27 NKJV) You remember Naaman was told by the prophet Elisha to dip 7 times in the river Jordan (1 Kings 5:10), and he would be cleansed. After hesitating, he finally did so and was cleansed. We have Jesus here confirming another Old Testament miracle.

(8) Jesus confirms Lot's wife being turned into a pillar of salt. He says, "Remember Lot's wife." (Luke 17:32 NKJV) What is to remember about her if she did not turn into a pillar of salt upon disobeying God (Gen. 19:17, 29)? That is the very thing we are to remember lest we too disobey.

I ask, do you believe what Jesus taught? Do you believe the things he said about the events I have listed above? If you doubt them, you question Jesus' veracity. How can you believe Jesus is Lord and Savior and yet doubt his word, for to doubt his word is to doubt him? If Jesus is prone to fairy tales, then how do you know what to believe or think?

Why would we expect God to be reined in by science, by naturalistic processes, when God, by definition, is outside and above the natural world, for he is the one who, if he does exist (I do not doubt that he does), created it all? He who created nature is not bound by what he created. The creation does not reign over the creator. The creator has not created a thing more powerful than himself, a thing he cannot intervene in and change to suit his purposes.

If you or I build a house, do we not have the power to take that house and remodel it? Why then cannot God intervene miraculously in the affairs of nature and of mankind, of which he created both, to suit his own purposes? Why does supernatural intervention surprise us to the point that we deny that it can happen?

Those who doubt generally do not want to believe. They do not search for God. They are running from faith because they do not want to believe, for belief would mean being bound by God and his commandments, which limit our freedom to do as we please, and I add, as we all know, we are all inclined to do what we want to, to do what pleases us. It is our human nature.

Even among religious people in Christendom, many have doubts about various passages in the Bible, but why? I think the root of the matter is that doubt allows us the freedom to build our own unique version of Christianity to suit ourselves. If we cannot trust the Bible completely, then we get to build the Bible (the doctrines and commandments) that most pleases us. It allows one to have a smorgasbord religion where one can pick and choose rather than just take what God has served up. We like the meal we would prepare better than the one God has prepared. It is a liberal brand of Christianity, but by design to meet a purpose—to live life the way we desire.

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