Regrets

While it would be wonderful to live life with no regrets there are few if any of us that will.  Regret is common to mankind for no one lives a perfect life always making the right decisions and doing the right things.   I think it would do us some good to look back at some of the Bible's famous men and see if they had any regrets.  By doing so it may give us a degree of strength to go on and not give up. 

Adam, the first man, no doubt had great regret.  He once lived in an earthly paradise with an unending life ahead of him having free access to the tree of life.  For food all he had to do was reach up and pluck it from the trees on which it grew.  There was no need to store it or do hard labor for it, as it would always be there.  God walked with him in the garden and thus for a time he had full fellowship with God.  Adam gave it all up. 

Do you not think while he was toiling the soil by the sweat of his brow fighting the thorns and thistles and realizing his destiny was to become dust himself, that he must die, that he had also brought this same destiny upon his children, that he was responsible for what they would have to go through, that he often looked back on how it once was and deeply regretted what he had done? 

Samuel was a great man of God.  I do not recall a single passage that speaks ill of Samuel.  He was God's man and judged Israel all the days of his life (1 Sam. 7:15) and, furthermore, he was a prophet of God ((1 Sam. 3:20).  In the New Testament we find him listed in the book of Hebrews, chapter 11, along with others in what one might call faith's all of fame.  And, yet, we find this, "Now it came to pass when Samuel was old that he made his sons judges over Israel." (1 Sam. 8:1 NKJV)  And then a little later we find this, "But his sons did not walk in his ways; they turned aside after dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice." (1 Sam. 8:3 NKJV) 

Do you not think this grieved Samuel greatly?  The thought comes naturally to mind when a child goes wrong where did I fail, where did I go wrong in raising him or her?  There is possibly no other regret that cuts deeper than this one.  We think to ourselves if I had just done this or that differently.  We blame ourselves.  I failed my child or my children. 

I do not claim Samuel sinned in the way he raised his family for I have no way of knowing but I do believe parents naturally blame themselves, at least to an extent, and have regrets about how they parented their children when their children go astray, singular or plural.  When one looks back in time there were a number of great men of God listed in the Bible who could not have qualified to be an elder in the church in the New Testament era, one of the requirements being "having faithful children" (Titus 1:6 NKJV), due to the kind of lives one or more of their children lived.  I also suspect being the godly man he was that Samuel regretted making his sons judges of Israel after him. 

David was another great man of God.  Here is what God thought about David after his death, speaking of King Abijam, the scripture says, "His heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father." (I Kings 15:3 ESV)  Then in the latter part of verse 4 of the same chapter we read, "David did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and did not turn aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite." (1 Kings 15:4b ESV)  He also is listed in faith's hall of fame in Hebrews 11 verse 32.  Certainly, we all expect to see David in heaven. 

Yet, David had occasion for regret in his life.  Yes, the most obvious was committing adultery with Bathsheba and having Uriah her husband murdered.  No doubt he looked back on that occasion many times in his life with deep regret.  Not only had he done this great evil it also brought with it great consequences resulting in much harm later to others.  Hear the words of Nathan the prophet, "Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.  Thus says the Lord, 'Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house.  And I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun.'" (2 Sam. 12:10-11 ESV) 

What was the evil that came down the road?  Absalom, a son whom David loved, murdered another son of David--Amnon.  Awhile later, Absalom sought to take the kingdom away from his father and even have his father put to death.  David had to flee to save his own life.  In a battle that brought defeat to Absalom, David commanded those in charge of his army, "Deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom." (2 Sam. 18:5 ESV)  You know the story of how in disobedience to David's orders Joab killed Absalom.  You also remember the deep grief David suffered over this. 

The Bible says when David learned of Absalom's death he was deeply moved and wept.  "O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom!  Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!" (2 Sam. 18:33 ESV)  What sorrow, what regret!  Had David not brought this upon himself by his sin?  Much like Adam, he could look back with deep regret over his sins.  It had cost him dearly and resulted in much harm to others he loved deeply.  To me the Bible is clear that had David pursued a different course in his life regarding Bathsheba and Uriah the life of his own family would have turned out differently.  Solomon later had another son of David's put to death--Adonijah.   Prophecy was most certainly fulfilled. 

Sin can have deep consequences in this life not only for ourselves but also for those we love and care about.  It is not as we sometimes hear "my life" and no one else's business.  There are always consequences for good or ill for others in our acts or lack thereof.  But the subject is regret.  There is no doubt about regret being in David's life as he thought about these things in reflection from time to time. 

In the New Testament, we also find great men of God who undoubtedly had regret.  We can readily name two--Paul and Peter.  Paul said he was "not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God." (1 Cor. 15:9 NKJV)  Elsewhere he calls himself the chief of sinners (1 Tim. 1:15).  I believe there is every reason to believe that Paul was at the least indirectly responsible for the deaths of some Christians.  When Stephen was stoned to death the Bible says "Saul was consenting to his death." (Acts 8:1 NKJV)  In Acts 22:4 Paul says, "I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women." (NKJV)  Paul says the persecution was "to the death."  One wonders how many mothers were in the group of those who were persecuted leaving behind children as orphans.  Do you think Paul had regrets?  Do you think those regrets ever completely passed from his thoughts as he lived day by day? 

Peter's case is too well known to recount here but we are all well aware of his regret having denied Jesus just at the time when Jesus could have used support the most. 

A lesser-known case is that of James and John.  Do you remember when Jesus was heading to Jerusalem how he sent messengers before him and as they came to a village of the Samaritans how those living there refused to receive him?  James and John responded by saying to the Lord, "Do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them"?  (Luke 9:54 NKJV)  Jesus answered by saying, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.  For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them." (Luke (:55-56 NKJV)   As you know James was killed not long after the church was established but John lived a long life.  Do you not think that John looked back with regret when he thought about the kind of man he once was, a man willing to bring about the death of others?  He is known as the apostle of love and yet there was this in his life, the very opposite of love.  It had to hurt as he looked back.  There had to be regret concerning the kind of attitude he once had. 

Then there was the other time when James and John came to Jesus asking that they might sit, "one on your right hand and the other on your left, in your glory." (Mark 10:37 NKJV)  There would have been no problem with this if it had not been for leaving others out seeking only glory for themselves.  The Bible says, "When the ten heard it, they began to be greatly displeased with James and John." (Mark 10:41 NKJV)  In time to come James and John could look back and regret the attitude they once had. 

We have seen enough examples to make the point.  There are often in the best of men things they look back on with regret.  Things they wish they had done differently, attitudes and actions they deeply regret or things they wish they had done but didn't.  These regrets can drag us down and destroy us if we allow it. 

When I look at you or you look at me we think we know the person we are seeing if we have been acquainted with them for any length of time.  That is not necessarily the case.  We do not know the inner man and the sorrow he or she may be carrying deep within.  Paul said in 1 Cor. 2:11, "For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him?" (NKJV)  There may well be a very deep regret within others that we know not of and cannot see, a burden that is carried every day.  

Sometimes we see those who are overly righteous so to speak.  They feel they have led exemplary lives and perhaps their sins have not been as great as that of others except for one thing--their attitude.  One is reminded of the two men who went up to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.  The Pharisee prayed thanking God he was not like the tax collector. (Luke 18:10-11)  He busied himself telling God the good things he was doing and how he was not doing evil and yet Jesus says of the tax collector "I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other." (Luke 18:14 NKJV)  The Pharisee did not deep down feel a need for God for to him his works were of such a quantity and quality as to fully justify him.  He had no sense of sin and guilt, had no regret.  

When we begin to think too much of ourselves we ought to stop and consider.  If I am so good why do I need Jesus' blood?  There is not a person on the face of the earth who has lived such a life that on its own merits deserves anything other than eternal hellfire.  A nasty attitude toward others is just as bad as anything else and even more distasteful to others.  It is disgraceful and unbecoming a Christian. 

It matters not how bad a life a person, or even a Christian, has lived in the past.  When a person repents and comes to God or back to God, as the case may be, they deserve all the honor and respect that can be given one of God's children whom Jesus came to earth to save.  No matter how bad a life they may have lived they are just as good as you in God's eyes no matter how good a life you have lived or think you have lived.  You probably never committed the sins David did but would you dare say, because you have not, that God sees you as superior to David?  We sometimes, despite ourselves, carry about a sense of superiority.  We did not do this or that and we become the Pharisee that went up to pray. 

Remember the account of the man who sent workers out into his field at different times of the day in Matthew 20?  When evening came those who had worked longer felt they deserved more money than those who had worked fewer hours and in some cases far fewer hours.  They felt the landowner was unjust when he gave the same amount to every man regardless of the hours worked.  It seemed unfair to them.  We have to be careful that we never develop that kind of attitude toward our fellow man and especially toward one another, brethren in Christ.  The attitude of we have done more, we have been better, we deserve more, is unchristian.  The truth is we deserve nothing, nothing that is but punishment for our sins, the sins we think we don't have. 

Why do people sometimes develop this kind of negative attitude?  Perhaps there are other reasons as well but here are a couple that come to mind.  One, they are unwilling to be honest with themselves for they find more comfort in self-deception.  The Bible says, "Every way of man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the hearts." (Prov. 21:2 NKJV)  God said in Jeremiah 17:9 (NKJV), "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?"  If we want to be self-deceived it is not hard to do so. 

A second reason some develop this negative attitude is their ignorance of the scriptures.  Some do not know the scriptures well enough to know what is and is not sin.  There are all kinds of sins apart from just sins of commission but some are relatively unaware of this.  If I do not love my brother have I sinned?  Some act as though as long as they do a man no harm all is well.  Is it?  Did you do him any good if and when he needed it? 

We sometimes blame a person for his or her past and want to see it corrected before we accept him or her.  There are a ton of things in our past we cannot correct and if that is to be the standard of Christian love toward another it is a standard that sinners can never attain to.  How do you correct the past?  There is only so much any of us can do to correct the past. 

We want mission impossible out of people sometimes rather than accept them as full-fledged brothers and sisters in Christ.  We will love them later when everything has been corrected.  The trouble is that it is often impossible to correct the past no matter how much we might desire to do it. 

I would like to reflect on the men mentioned in this study.  Of the men we have studied some were already children of God at the time events unfolded in their lives that brought them regret.  I guess Paul would be the only exception.  Of the six men we have mentioned I believe we all agree that we expect to see at least five of them in heaven.  As for Adam, I am only willing to say that I do not know what happened in the many years after his fall in the garden.  Did he repent?  Did God forgive him?  I suspect he did but the Bible does not say so I cannot know.  

Because we are all in the same boat together should we not fully accept one another with all of our faults of the past and count them as but nothing (the assumption being we have repented and turned to God)?  We have all sunk our own boat and all of us are reaching up to Jesus for salvation.  We are all hoping with Christian expectation that Jesus will reach out his hand to us as he did to Peter when Peter was sinking in the water he had been walking on.  Only Jesus can save us. 

The past is the past but we can help one another, comfort and console one another, and help one another get to heaven.  We all have regrets but we all can have hope if we will, as the old song goes, but trust and obey.  The time comes when we must move on.  The past cannot be undone and we do not want it to destroy us.  Paul gave us inspired advice when he said, "But one thing I do:  forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.  Let those of us who are mature think this way."  (Phillipians 3:13b-15a ESV)  

The inspired advice is let the past go.  Look to the future.  That is the best advice you will ever get on this subject--inspired advice.  Turn loose of the past, let it go.  Christ has called us to freedom, not to bondage.  

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Finding Truth

How can one find and know the truth of Christianity that comes from God in a world that is divided over that truth to the extent that today we have thousands and thousands of denominations because they cannot agree with one another over what that truth is?  Many no longer think it is possible to know the truth in any absolute sense.  It is just a matter of individual opinion is a common thought.  Consequently, it is not unusual to hear sentiments like as long as you believe in Jesus and are sincere that is all that matters and any church will do, just find the church of your choice.

It is easy enough for the sincere seeker after truth to just throw up his/her hands in despair and give up but the Bible makes it clear that truth can be known and that it does matter what one believes and obeys.  Jesus said "to those Jews who believed Him, 'If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.  And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.'" (John 8:31-32 NKJV)  Abiding in the word of Jesus is thus essential to (1) being a disciple of Jesus and (2) to knowing the truth.  It is also essential to salvation for Jesus said, "If anyone keeps My word he shall never see death." (John 8:51 NKJV)

All the words in our New Testament are the words of Jesus, not just the red letter words.  The word Jesus spoke and gave to man was God the Father's.  Jesus himself said so.  "He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me." (John 14:24 NKJV)  John the Baptist was speaking of Jesus when he said, "For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure." (John 3:34 NKJV) 

Jesus made other statements to this effect as follows:  "The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority." (John 14:10 NKJV)  "I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him." (John 8:26 NKJV)  "As My Father taught Me, I speak these things." (John 8:28 NKJV)  "You seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God." (John 8:40 NKJV)  "But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me … He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God." (John 8:45-47 NKJV)  In his prayer in John 17 he says, "I have given to them the words which You have given Me." (John 17:8 NKJV)  That which Jesus spoke and taught came from God the Father.

When Jesus had ascended back to heaven the Holy Spirit was given to the apostles and prophets but the Spirit himself did not initiate new teaching but merely took of what was Jesus' and gave it to man.  This is clearly taught in John 16:12-15 where we have Jesus speaking and saying, "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.  However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.  He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.  All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you." (NKJV)

Jesus still had many things to say but he would not be saying those things now while still in the physical body but they would be spoken by the Holy Spirit who was going to take "what is Mine and declare it to you."  When Jesus said in John 14:18, in speaking to the twelve, "I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you" (NKJV) he was speaking of coming to them via means of the Holy Spirit (read the statement in context—John 14:16-20).  This is the very thing he did on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2 when the apostles were baptized in the Holy Spirit.

The New Testament is God's word; it is Jesus' word; it is the Holy Spirit's word.  Paul declares that he received what he preached by revelation of Jesus.  "But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man.   For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ." (Gal. 1:11-12 NKJV)  At the same time he made clear that the words he spoke were from the Holy Spirit.  "These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual." (1 Cor. 2:13 NKJV)  Just 3 verses later he says, "We have the mind of Christ." (1 Cor. 2:16 NKJV)  To have the Holy Spirit is the same as to have the mind of Christ which is the same as to have "the Spirit who is from God" (1 Cor. 2:12 NKJV) which John the Baptist told us earlier God gave Jesus "without measure." (John 3:34 NKJV)

"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2 Tim. 3:16-17 NKJV)  It is God's word which is truth for Jesus said in prayer to the Father, "Your word is truth." (John 17:17 NKJV)  It is that which makes free from sin (see John 8:31-32 quoted in the second paragraph of this article).  It is that by which we shall be judged for Jesus said, "He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him--the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day." (John 12:48 NKJV)

Jesus has defined love of God and what that means when he said, via the Holy Spirit speaking through the apostle John, "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments." (1 John 5:3 NKJV)  He again says, "This is love, that we walk according to His commandments." (2 John 6 NKJV)  We find similar statements in the Gospel of John where Jesus speaks directly.  "He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me." (John 14:21 NKJV)  "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word." (John 14:23 NKJV)  Jesus is "the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him." (Heb. 5:9 NKJV)  To obey Jesus one must obey the truth, the word of God, the words of Jesus whether spoken directly by him or indirectly by means of the Holy Spirit speaking through the apostles and the New Testament prophets.

Now it is time to make an application as it applies to the subject of finding truth in divided Christendom.  Where can truth be found?  The answer is simple—in the words of Jesus which is the New Testament, all of it.  But, it is often said we cannot agree on it.  We disagree with how passages are to be understood.  True, we do, but one must understand that truth is truth.

If you and I are reading the same passage and you say it teaches one thing and I say it teaches another that is not going to affect the truth of the passage one way or another; it will not change the truth one iota.  You may be wrong; I may be wrong; we both may be wrong; but, make no mistake about it, there is truth in the passage to be discovered.

There is no such thing as a separate truth for you and a separate truth for me out of the same passage.  At least one of us has to be in error and maybe both of us.  God will judge us by his word (John 12:48) which requires a correct understanding of it if a man is going to believe it and obey it.  We are foolhardy when we go off and say in our hearts that you see it one way and I see it another and we are content to leave it at that.

It is a direct command of God to, "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth." (2 Tim. 2:15 NAS)  If we fail to do that--accurately handle the word of truth--then we simply become another blind leader of the blind which Jesus says will end up with both falling into the ditch.  It means disaster.

I say this without reservation; most people never learn the truth because they never study the truth.  They are far, far away from being diligent about personal Bible study and being a workman at doing it.  They may know well what it means to be a diligent workman studying a college course but they have never put forth that kind of effort into Bible study.  They do not like to read or study the Bible, they find it boring or they would rather do other things.

Peter said that Paul wrote some things hard to understand "which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures" (2 Peter 3:16 NKJV) so scripture can be twisted and turned to teach what it does not teach but again to do so means destruction.  One must educate himself not in what men say the scriptures teach but in the exact wording of scripture so he knows for himself what it teaches.  The Bereans "searched the scriptures daily." (Acts 17:11 NKJV)

How many people today are almost solely dependent on their preacher for their religious instruction?  If their preacher was a blind leader how would they know it no more than they study for themselves?  One is going to have to want to go to heaven if he/she is going to get there.  Studying, serious study, is a part of the want to process.  One comes to understand the scriptures correctly the same way he comes to understand any other academic subject—by study.  It was God who said, "Come now, and let us reason together." (Isa. 1:18 NKJV)  You have to know what he said before you can reason on it.

Jesus taught that a man can know the truth but there was a stipulation—"if anyone wants to do his will." (John 7:17 NKJV)  Here is the whole verse with Jesus being the speaker, "If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority." (John 7:17 NKJV)  Many New Testament doctrines are rejected today because men do not want to do God's will.

One of the most prevalent is that of marriage, divorce, and remarriage for causes other than that given in Matt. 19:9—the cause of fornication (sexual immorality in most modern-day translations).  A divorce and remarriage for any other reason is adultery.  Likewise some religious groups today want to legalize in their religious body homosexuality, that is to declare a practicing homosexual a faithful Christian.  Others desire to place women in positions of authority over men in the church.  Is the Bible unclear on these subjects?

Hear the New Testament on the subject of homosexuality, "Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,  nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God." (1 Cor. 6:9-10 ESV)  As for women in leadership roles in the church over men Paul said, "Let a woman learn in silence with all submission.   And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence." (1 Tim. 2:11-12 NKJV)

What is the point?  One cannot know the truth unless he wants to do God's will just as Jesus said in John 7:17.  Jesus said the same thing using other words in Mark 4:24, "Then He said to them, 'Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given.'" (NKJV)  If one is not willing to obey the truth (use it) what makes him think he is going to learn the truth?

Such a man will read a passage of scripture in a different way than will a man who is willing to accept and obey what is said.  He will justify himself by twisting the scriptures and declare his twisting to be the real truth.  Because he does not like what he hears and does not want to obey it he declares he hears something in the passage that an honest-hearted man would never hear.

In a similar vein all those religious bodies who declare themselves to be Christian but are willing to step outside the bounds of scripture for justification and authority are merely seeking to set up the commandments of men as equal to the word of God.  There are today all kinds of governing bodies that make rules and regulations, laws and commandments, for their faithful just by the vote of those elected or appointed delegates to their various conventions, etc.  At least the Catholics are honest enough to admit that they do not derive their authority solely from the Bible.  Some of the denominations ought to fess up too, just as many of them as have national conventions or governing bodies that set their doctrines.

If one needs reminding of what God said about teaching the doctrines of men then here is the reminder, "'In vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'" (Matt. 15:9 NKJV)  The problem was, "'These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me.'" (Matt. 15:8 NKJV) No single man or group of men has the right to make a single law for God.  We live in the kingdom of God and kings rule in kingdoms.  The church is not a democracy where we vote on what we will believe and practice.

Finally, tradition plays an awfully big role in leading people away from the truth.  Jesus, in speaking to the Pharisees and scribes, said, "For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men." (Mark 7:8 NKJV)  Again, "He said to them, 'All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.'" (Mark 7:9 NKJV)  Does anyone think that kind of thing came to an end at the end of the first century?

The key to detecting this today within a group is the phrase, "you reject the commandment of God."  One can see the commandments of God by reading the New Testament.  When one or more of those commandments are no longer being followed by a religious body that ought to tell you something about them and a good place to start looking is at their traditions and how they are ruled.

If I was to tell you all you needed to know the truth was your New Testament you might find that hilarious in view of all the conflicting beliefs that men who claim to follow it have come up with.  Yet, if I was to tell you the truth could be found somewhere else I would be in conflict with what God has said and would find myself fighting against God.  The truth is found in your New Testament, because it is the word of Jesus, but it takes a good and honest heart to find it and accept it.  The real test of whether or not a man or woman has found the truth is found in 1 John.

"Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.  He who says, 'I know Him,' and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.  But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him." (1 John 2:3-5 NKJV)

Are you doing that?  The congregation or church of which you are a member, are they doing that or have they rejected some of God's commandments and set up some of their own traditions?  Read your New Testament and you decide.  I hope you are able to do that with a good and honest heart but be careful for God has said, "The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?" (Jer. 17:9 NKJV) 

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Abuse Of The Old Testament

There are many things practiced in the name of Christianity today that have no scriptural basis in the law of Christ, in the new covenant.  The Old Testament, the old covenant, at times is appealed to as the source of authority.  Does the Old Testament have the same authority for Christians today as the New Testament?  How should Christians today relate to and handle the Old Testament scriptures?  These are questions we all ought to be interested in for we are saved by truth, not error. 

God has commanded us to rightly divide the truth (2 Tim. 2:15) and Peter says that the scriptures can be twisted to our own destruction (2 Peter 3:16) thus we must be careful and not make assumptions or just give our opinion.  We can only rightly divide the word of truth by following what God has said about how to do that.  Only then are we on safe ground. 

That the Old Testament scriptures have value for us today there can be no doubt for Paul says, "For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope." (Rom.15:4 NAS)  We thus learn that we can receive instruction from the Old Testament scriptures and encouragement that combined with perseverance gives us hope. 

No better example can be given than what James said in illustrating this point.  He says, "Behold, we count those blessed who endured.  You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord's dealings that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful." (James 5:11 NAS) 

Hebrews chapter 11 is another good illustration.  We are taught by the examples of Old Testament characters what faith is and what it means to have faith.  We are encouraged to persevere as we see what some of those men and women were willing to do and endure to be faithful to God.  We compare our trials with theirs and ours seem but little things and we are given the strength to go on and not give up.  The Bible speaks of these as being those "of whom the world was not worthy." (Heb. 11:38 NKJV) 

We are told to remember Lot's wife (Luke 17:32), told in so many words that we ought to learn from the fact that "anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses" (Heb. 10:28 NKJV) and consider that in relation to our treatment of the Son of God (Heb. 10:29) where the punishment will be worse.  This list could be extended but the point has been adequately made that there is much to learn from the Old Testament as the New Testament reveals lesson after lesson we ought to learn from the more distant past. 

Furthermore, much of what we learn about God, who he is, his character, his attributes, his expectations for man, and his purposes are found in the Old Testament.  We find in the Old Testament the history of man.  We find the history of God's chosen people.  We see his eternal purpose set forth both in historical development and in prophecy. 

And then there is the book of Psalms.  Who is there among God's people who have not gone to the book of Psalms time and again to find comfort and hope, especially in times of sadness and sorrow? 

Want to learn how to pray?  Read David in the Psalms to see prayer from the heart.  Learn how to praise God in prayer and how to petition him for his blessings.  Learn how to thank God.  All of this can be learned by close attention in reading the Psalms. 

Need wisdom?  Go to the book of Proverbs.  Many, many New Testaments that one can buy also include as an addition the books of Psalms and Proverbs.  They are books that are often consulted by men today and rightly so. 

I have said many good and true things in praise of the Old Testament scriptures.  I believe everything I have said has been scriptural and so much so that I do not believe anyone who calls himself a Christian would disagree with me to this point. 

However, we have now come to the time where we need to divide the word—the old from the new--and make a distinction.  The Bible is very clear that the Old Testament is not meant for us today as law.  We readily see this when it comes to animal sacrifices but we too often want to bring in from the Old Testament other things that should have been left there as well. 

The Hebrew writer says, "For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law." (Heb. 7:12 NKJV)  Read in context the argument has been that Jesus is now our high priest and he is not of the tribe of Levi as were all the priests under the old Law of Moses.  Jesus was of the tribe of Judah. 

But our point is that the inspired writer tells us as clearly as words can make it that the law has changed.  There is now a new law.  The Law of Moses is gone, fulfilled, completed, and is now history.  There is now a new law, the law of Christ.  In Gal. 6:2 Paul says, "Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." (NKJV) 

Everyone readily admits that Jesus gave man commandments to obey.  A commandment is nothing other than a law to be obeyed.  Disobey a law of God and you sin.  As the old King James translation puts it in 1 John 3:4, "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law:  for sin is the transgression of the law."  In our day the law that is transgressed bringing sin is the law of Christ, not the Law of Moses. 

Hear God the Father speak from heaven on the Mount of Transfiguration when Peter wanted to make 3 tabernacles, one each for Moses, Elijah, and Christ.  "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.  Hear Him!" (Matt. 17:5 NKJV)  Christ was not to be put on an equal plain with Moses and/or Elijah.  Neither was to be heard any longer as present-day authorities.  Henceforth Christ was the one to be heard and followed. 

In Hebrews 3 the Hebrew writer has been talking about Moses and Christ and how Christ is superior to Moses and then in verses 7 and 8 says, "Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says:  'Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts." (NKJV)  The day of hearing Moses is over as regards law to be followed.  Hear the voice of Christ which is the voice of God.  Hear it today.  Jesus says, "the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me." (John 14:24 NKJV) 

Paul says of himself in Gal. 2:19, "For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God." (NKJV)  He goes on to say "if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain." (Gal 2:21 NKJV)  And in Rom. 7:4 "Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another--to Him who was raised from the dead." (NKJV)  The law referred to in these passages is the Law of Moses. 

And, then, in Gal. 3:24-25 he makes it clear enough that an older elementary school student ought to be able to easily understand it.  He says, "Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.  But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor." (NKJV)  The law (the Law of Moses) was our tutor; we are no longer under a tutor, thus no longer under the law.  (For that matter the Gentiles were never given the law anyway nor were they under it.  The law was for God's chosen people, the Jewish nation.) 

Part of the problem the Galatians were having was that they wanted at the very least an admixture of the old Law of Moses with Christ.  Paul called it a perversion of the gospel of Christ in chapter 1 verse 7.  Some were going so far as to want to go back to the Law of Moses for Paul says, "Tell me, you who desire to be under the law." (Gal. 4:21 NKJV)  The desire was wrong.  Remember, God said this is my beloved son, hear him, him not Moses (the Law of Moses). 

Paul goes so far as to say that being under the works of the law (reference to the Law of Moses) is a curse.  "For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them." (Gal. 3:10 NKJV)  He says, "Do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage." (Gal. 5:1 NKJV) 

I could go on and on with proof texts for the book of Galatians and the book of Hebrews both deal extensively about the change of the law telling us clearly that we are not under the Law of Moses today.  The book of Romans also gives us much the same.  But, my main interest is making an application as to how all of this affects us today as Christians and believers. 

The idea seems to be prevalent today that the Old Testament gives us authority to worship in ways we please if we can find an example for our practice in the Old Testament.  But, does it? 

Paul says of certain Galatians, Gal. 5:4 (NKJV), "You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace."  They wanted to bring over into Christianity circumcision, a requirement under the old covenant.  "Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing.  And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law." (Gal. 5:2-3 NKJV) 

The only way these people could justify themselves, even in their own eyes, was by an appeal to the Old Testament scriptures, justification by Old Testament law.  It won't work.  Why not?  Because it is not a part of the law of Christ, not a part of the new covenant.  We do not have a problem with the issue of circumcision today but we often seek to do what that group did, the group who wanted it.  We attempt to justify our practice that cannot be found in the law of Christ, the New Testament, by an appeal to the Old Testament. 

We are given a choice of whose law and authority we will live by.  Will it be Moses' law or Christ's law?  We cannot mix them.  What Christ wanted from the old law to be observed today he brought with him and had it recorded in the pages of the New Testament.  We can go back to Moses or we can move forward to Christ.  That is our choice. 

There are things that seem so right to a man, how can they be wrong?  The writer of Proverbs says, "There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death." (Prov. 16:25 NKJV)  God speaking in Isaiah 55:8-9 (NKJV) says, "'For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,' says the Lord.  'For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.'"  We greatly error when we think that because a thing pleases us it is automatically going to please God. 

We also ought to learn from this that we ought not to just accept without question the things that have been handed down to us from men who lived in the past but whose teachings have come to be accepted as a sort of a standard--it doesn't matter whether the man was Calvin, Luther, or the Pope, or whomever it might be.  Isaiah said in Isa. 2:22 (ESV), "Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he?"  Good question.  I think Isaiah answered his own question, did he not? 

Nadab and Abihu in Leviticus 10 "offered profane fire before the LORD, which He had not commanded them" (verse 1) and the Bible says "so fire went out from the LORD and devoured them, and they died before the LORD." (Lev. 10:2 NKJV)  They had no authority from God to use profane fire or as some versions put it "strange fire." (NAS)  

What is the application?  To Nadab and Abihu worship was worship as long as it was directed to God and meant for his praise.  It seemed right to them.  Who could object to worshipping God?  Well, we found out.  God does not think as man thinks.  

What Nadab and Abihu did was no different than what we do today when we add to the worship things we cannot find in the law of Christ, the new covenant, the New Testament.  Col. 3:17 reads as follows, "And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him." (NKJV)  How does one do a thing in the name of the Lord Jesus about which the Lord Jesus spoke nothing? 

A careful reading of 1 Chron. 21:18-19 will show you that the phrase "in the name of the Lord" means by the Lord's authority.  The angel of the Lord had commanded Gad to go speak to David about building an altar and verse 19 says, "So David went up at the word of Gad, which he had spoken in the name of the Lord."  This clearly shows that "in the name of the Lord" means by the Lord's authority and that authority is expressed in his word, not outside it.  We are to do what we do "in the name of the Lord Jesus," by his authority found in his word.  Now reread Col. 3:17 and you will see this involves everything we do in religion and most assuredly in our worship.   

Nadab and Abihu were doing a thing in the name of God which God had spoken nothing about.  Nadab and Abihu were not condemned for doing a thing that was written or given but for what was not written or not given and doing it anyway because it pleased them.  Do you think for a single moment that Nadab and Abihu thought it would matter?  You know they didn't. 

Peter says, "If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God."  You will need an oracle of God to do that.  When you have to go outside the word of God for your practice it is because there is no oracle.  

The New Testament tells us exactly how far we are allowed to go.  We can go that far and no farther.  How far?  In 1 Cor. 4:6 Paul says, "not to exceed what is written" (NAS)--"not to go beyond what is written" (ESV).  John says, (2 John 1:9 NKJV), "Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God."  When we step outside what Christ has said, his written word, we step outside his doctrine and adopt the doctrine of man.  On the Day of Judgment you do not want to find yourself trying to explain to God why you did that. 

Today all kinds of things have been brought into the typical worship of churches for which man cannot find a New Testament book, chapter, and verse for and we all know that.  I am not telling anyone anything they do not know.  Most will readily admit it.  They say God will not care.  It makes no difference.  It is still worship to God they say.  It pleases him.  But what do you do with John 4:24 that says, in part, that worship must be in truth and then John 17:17 which says God's word is truth?  You then search the New Testament and cannot find a word about your practice, what then? 

Sometimes they say they did it in the Old Testament; Moses did it or David did it so it has to be okay. Instrumental music in worship is an example.  Which law did Moses and David live under?  Instrumental music was a command of worship under the Law of Moses (see 2 Chron. 29:25), that is to say during that era or under that dispensation of time.  Does one seek justification by an appeal to the Law of Moses?  God said to those with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration, "This is My Beloved Son. … Hear Him!" (Matt. 17:5 NKJV)  

(You are aware that the church we find in the New Testament existed for hundreds of years before man brought the instrument into worship.  This in itself tells you where it came from, God or man.) 

But, the things brought from the Old Testament over to us today go far beyond just instrumental music.  Things like the special robes and/or priestly attire worn by those who are considered to be somewhat in the church, the idea that there are two classes of brethren--one priests and then the rest of us, the ritualism we find often in the churches, and so on all from the days of the Law of Moses and none of which can be justified without an appeal to it.  Will we hear Moses or Christ? 

The title of this article was abusing the Old Testament.  How is that done?  I think we see now it is by seeking justification from it, especially in the realm of public worship.  That is not where you will find justification, not today. 

I close with the words of God the Father on the Mount of Transfiguration.  "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.  Hear Him!" (Matt. 17:5)

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Christianity and Multiculturalism

How does Christianity relate to the concept of multiculturalism?  The answer to that depends in large part on one's definition of multiculturalism and there are many definitions of it as you see when you begin researching the topic.  For this article, I will define it as the idea that all cultures are of equal value, none to be judged as superior to another, that society should be oriented around groups versus a common concept of a single united "we" working as a unit, that diversity is more important than unity.  It is a desire not for assimilation and oneness but for difference.  One site I looked at used the term "the politics of difference."  Often proponents of the concept argue that in democracies it is majority rule and thus minorities are held down and discriminated against.  The desire is to withdraw from the majority culture.

What does the Bible have to say, if anything, on the topic?  1 Cor. 1:10 reads as follows:  "Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment." (NKJV)  Here we have a plea not for diversity but rather unity which brings up the question of whether or not Christianity is a multicultural religion.  If it is then in what sense is it?

That the gospel should be taken into the entire world and preached to every creature is clearly taught in the Great Commission.  "And he (Jesus--DS) said to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.  He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.'" (Mark 16:15-16 NKJV)  God is "the Savior of all men" (1 Tim. 4:10 NKJV), not just the Savior of one nationality, or one language, or one race of people.  In this sense then certainly the gospel is multicultural.  Where you live, what color your skin is, what language you speak, whether or not you are rich or poor, handsome or plain, educated or uneducated, young or old, the way you dress, or what you eat, or the kind of work you do, etc., has nothing at all to do with God's desire to see you be saved.  "God our Savior…desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." (1 Tim. 2:3-4 NKJV)  Neither does any of that have anything at all to do with a true Christian's love for you as a brother or sister in Christ or in his/her desire to see you have the opportunity to become a fellow Christian if you are not already one. 

However, the word multiculturalism as it is often being used today (2011) in American society conveys the idea that every culture is to be embraced as it is and that all have equal value.  Does the Bible teach this to be the truth?  Can one become a Christian and then just go back and partake freely of whatever his society (culture) offers up? 

When Paul came to Athens, in Acts 17:16, the Bible says, "Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols." (NKJV)  Was Athenian culture to be embraced?  In Ephesus their culture called for the worship of the goddess (idol) Diana (see Acts 19).  Was this a culture Christians ought to value or embrace? 

If every culture has value in its own right why did God destroy Sodom and Gomorrah?  If every culture is good why did God drive out the inhabitants of Canaan before the Israelites?  If you do not know you can find out by reading Lev. 18 and Lev. 20.  God in both chapters list a long list of sins and then says in Lev. 18:24-25, "Do not defile yourselves with any of these things; for by all these the nations are defiled, which I am casting out before you.  For the land is defiled; therefore I visit the punishment of its iniquity upon it, and the land vomits out its inhabitants." (NKJV)  In the next verse, he says of those sins, "You…shall not commit any of these abominations." (Lev. 18:26 NKJV)  Compare this with his statement in Lev. 20:23 of similar import after reading the sins listed in the earlier part of that chapter. 

What were some of these sins?  Here is a sample--burning to death in fire one's children as a sacrifice to the idol God Molech (Lev. 18:21, Lev. 20:2-5), having sexual relations with animals (Lev. 18:23, Lev. 20:15-16), cursing one's father or mother (Lev. 20:9), homosexuality (Lev. 18:22, Lev. 20:13), and you can read the rest if you so desire to turn to those chapters and read them for yourself.  Now here is the point--did God value these cultures he destroyed?  Did he think one culture was as good as another? 

Now do not get me wrong.  Every man has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23) and there is no doubt the same can be said of all nations.  None are perfect.  But are we to say because of that all are equally good or equally bad?  Whether we are talking about nations, cultures, or congregations some are better than others, at least at a given point in time, or if you want to put it another way some are not as bad as others.  As you read about the seven churches of Asia in Rev. 2 and 3 you immediately see not all were equal in standing before God at that particular time.  Compare the church at Philadelphia, for example, with the church at Sardis or the church at Laodicea. 

Does one wish to value Nazi Germany and its culture back during the reign of the Nazis?  How about Russia under Stalin?  Does one honestly believe that sharia law is as good as democracy (say Afghanistan versus the U.S.)?  What happens to Christianity if Islamic law ever becomes the law of the land?  Are the women in democratic countries looking forward to that time with eager anticipation? 

Is one culture, one belief system, one ideology just as good as another?  What if the other guy's culture (say Iran's for example) says you ought to be destroyed (in Iran's case destroy Israel)?  If one guy's culture says it is a glorious thing to strap on an explosive device on your son or daughter and have them go off and kill themselves what difference does it make if you are a multiculturalist who believes all cultures are to be equally valued for who are you to judge?  

When the children of Israel entered the Promised Land the idea was not incorporating two cultures into one but destroying one--the one that for that moment was most evil.  God was not a multiculturalist.  It is utter folly to value equally every culture and to say no culture has any claim to be superior to another.  Some cultures need destroying, not embraced and built up--Nazi Germany, the Japanese culture of WWII days, the Khmer Rouge, and you can probably add to the list without any additional help from me.   

By its very nature multiculturalism is antagonistic to Christianity for it puts sin and righteousness on an equal plain; it basically says there is no sin for there can be no value judgment.  One can say the Bible supports not being judgmental.  Generally, Matt. 7:1 is quoted as a proof passage where Jesus said, "Judge not, that you be not judged." (NKJV)  This is one of the most abused and misrepresented passages in the Bible.  Read in context one very quickly comes to verse 6 which says, "Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces." (Matt. 7:6 NKJV--Jesus speaking)  Who is to judge who the dog is or who the swine is?  You are the one who is to do it.  You have to make that judgment.  The Bible does not, contrary to popular opinion, prohibit judging but only unjust judgment.  "Judge with righteous judgment," Jesus said (John 7:24 NKJV). 

To make no judgments at all, and yes I am speaking of value judgments, opposes everything taught in the New Testament and in life.  The New Testament praises those who because of full age are able to absorb solid food, "that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil." (Heb. 5:14 NKJV)  To discern is to judge.  "Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? … We shall judge angels?  How much more, things that pertain to this life?" (1 Cor. 6:2-3 NKJV)  Paul was being critical of the church at Corinth because they refused to judge?  "I say this to your shame.  Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you, not even one, who will be able to judge between his brethren?" (1 Cor. 6:5 NKJV) 

In life in general do we desire that our children go out into the world unwilling or unable to make value judgments?  Do we send them out without guidance or direction?  Is it our desire that they place the same value on the culture of a gang in an urban area as they do on the culture of a Christian brotherhood of believers?  We sometimes hear talk of the drug culture.  Are all cultures of equal value?  Should no judgments be made? 

Christianity is multicultural in the sense that was earlier stated in this article in that it is a gospel made for all without restrictions based on race, sex, nationality, economic or social status, etc.  However, once one becomes a Christian we are to become "one" people.  "He himself is our peace, who has made both one (a reference to Jew and Gentile of which all mankind is one or the other--DS), and has broken down the middle wall of division between us, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that he might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross." (Eph. 2:14-16 NKJV)  The end is not humanity divided as it once was between Jew and Gentile but now united as "one new man."  "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Gal. 3:28 NKJV) 

Jesus’ long prayer in John 17 includes this, "I do not pray for these alone but also for those who will believe in me through their word; that they all may be one." (John 17:20-21 NKJV)  I would also recall to the reader's memory the verse that began this article, 1 Cor. 1:10, where the plea was (should we say command?) "that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment." (NKJV) 

Christianity does not do away with culture, not mine, not yours, not anyone's.  We all do not have to start eating the same foods, observe the same holidays, learn to speak the same language, wear the same style of clothes, etc.  However, our allowance for diversity must end where the pages of the New Testament speak giving us law to abide by, the law of Christ. 

Some might argue for multiculturalism in view of the fact that Christendom is divided into hundreds, if not even thousands, of denominations.  It is a poor argument to make.  Why?  Because God condemned anything but unity and it is an utter failure in men and their character, or an acknowledgment of their ignorance of scripture, when they rejoice that every man has a church of his choice different from all others in items of faith and practice when Christ prayed for just the opposite.  When men prefer division to unity the failure is in the men. 

Some multiculturalists fear that to not accept multiculturalism will only lead to trouble, division, and possibly even to violence or war.  The truth is just the opposite.  People have not gone to war because they were united as one but because they were divided.  Two people that agree and see eye to eye are not in danger of conflict with one another.  The American Civil War did not start because of unity of belief and practice but because of disunity.  

Neither America nor any other nation has anything to fear from within when all are in general agreement.  We have been a strong country in a large part because every family that came to our borders came not to remain what they once were (you name the nationality or country) but because they wanted to be something new--an American.  My family background is British by DNA but German in more recent descent.  My family has not considered itself either British or German for many generations.  We are not Germans living in America, not German-Americans, we are Americans. 

I fear while hoping I am wrong that we are trying to promote in multiculturalism an ideology that will lead those living in our nation as immigrants to have first allegiance not to America but to the nation or culture from whence they came.  What then?  Trouble!  Disunity!  A warring among ourselves!  That is certainly a possibility. 

So it is in Christianity.  When we become a Christian we are supposed to leave the old world and its ways from whence we came behind us.  We are to become a "new creation" (2 Cor. 5:17, Gal. 6:15, Rom. 6:4).  "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." (2 Cor. 5:17 NKJV)  One cannot be a new creation without being literally a new creation meaning he has to put off the old man and put on the new man (Eph. 4:21-24).  The old life, the old way of thinking and doing as one pleased, of doing what everyone else around us was/is doing is over.  The new life is one of faith and obedience to the word of God, to Jesus.  In so far as Christians bring their lives into accordance with that standard of conduct there will be unity of faith and practice.  

The goal of Christianity as it relates to culture is to make all people one, one in Christ.  There is only one way to do that--teaching the gospel to those who are then given the option through free will of either the obedience of faith or a rejection of the faith.  It is a personal choice that must come from the heart of the individual.  There is no such thing as forced obedience to the gospel.  Maybe the God (?) of Islam can accept converts at the point of a gun but the God of Christianity will not. 

The God of Christianity desires man's love.  Love cannot be forced.  It comes through getting to know the one who will become through our learning of him the beloved.  If a man sticks a gun in your back to convert you to his God you quickly learn what kind of God he worships--one who believes in bullets, blood, and guts. 

Some (most?) misunderstand Christianity thinking it has caused wars in the past, the Middle Ages.  It is simply not true for Catholicism is a religion separate from Christianity that does not depend on the Bible for its existence.  The Bible alone will never make one a Catholic, will never give you a Pope, will never allow you to pray to or worship the Virgin Mary, etc., etc., etc.  Catholics, if informed at all, will readily admit it is the teaching of their church that has the primacy and that the New Testament alone is insufficient.  Christianity is found in the pages of the New Testament, not outside it. 

Protestantism is not Christianity.  No man can take the New Testament and show where Jesus ever established a denomination (you can fill in any denominational name you want).  Every one of them was established hundreds and hundreds of years after Christ built his church starting on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2 thus they are not the church he established.  Furthermore, it takes along with faith, repentance, and confession of Christ, baptism to make a Christian which virtually every denomination denies and rejects.  Peter said baptism was for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38), that it saves us (1 Peter 3:21), but they deny it making Peter out as one who despite being inspired had no idea what he was talking about.  As for Ananias telling Paul to "arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins" (Acts 22:16) he too was deluded according to denominational doctrine. 

No, let the Catholics and Protestants war all they want back in the Middle Ages.  It had nothing to do with Christianity.  Christianity is a striving for one culture (one belief, one mind) but only through teaching and persuasion as a means of obtaining that.  When you find the passage in the New Testament that shows a disciple taking up arms to promote the cause of Christ please write me and let me know where you find it.  Jesus himself said, "My kingdom is not of this world." (John 18:36 NKJV)  "The kingdom of God is within you." (John 17:21 NKJV)  It is found in the heart of the man who has become a true disciple of Jesus, who has become a Christian. 

Christians love people of all other races, nationalities, and cultures.  I write as an American Christian but Jesus was not an American.  Does his race or nationality matter?  Does any man's race or nationality matter?  No!  Paul said, "We regard no one according to the flesh.  Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him thus no longer.  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." (2 Cor. 5:16-17 NKJV)  As Paul said, "we regard no one according to the flesh." 

One of the great experiences of my life was going to college and becoming acquainted with people of other races and from foreign lands and cultures.  It greatly enriched my life, a country boy from rural white America.  My personal doctor today, a man I like and a wonderful doctor, is from India.  I am glad we have restaurants today specializing in food from almost every nation in the world.  Cultural diversity is a wonderful thing in its place but we have to understand it has its place.  There are limits to it.  Go too far with it and it divides us into competing and warring factions and brings strife and trouble and sometimes even violence and war. 

God's way is always best, "be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment." (1 Cor. 1:10 NKJV)  In doing so we will have peace and tranquility, be happy with one another, and at peace with God.  Both as a nation and as Christians there is much truth in the adage that united we stand and divided we fall or at least fail to achieve what could have been achieved had we stood together as one united people.      

[This article was written in 2011 and posted today with only the slightest bit of editing.  The thinking is it has more relevance today than 11 years ago when it was first written.]

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