Fight to keep your faith

1 Timothy 1:18-20 "This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you fight the good fight, 19 keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith. 20 Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan, so that they will be taught not to blaspheme."

Introduction and Review

Yesterday we began considering what Paul meant by the phrase "fight the good fight" in 1 Timothy 1:18. We discovered that other scriptures utilize this imagery of "fighting" to describe the Christian life. We concluded in yesterday's post that one of the meanings we can ascribe to this phrase is that of "fighting for the victory of faith". The Christian life is not meant to be lived in passivity. There is no cruise control on the steering column of the Christian life. In as much as we do "wait upon the Lord" (Isaiah 40:31) and trust in Him (Proverbs 3:5-6), we also at the same time must work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12), being that God is the one working forth in us His perfect and pleasing will (Philippians 2:13).

In having looked at the victory of faith itself, we now consider the second meaning for this phrase "fight the good fight", namely fighting to keep your faith.

Fight to keep your faith. 1 Tim 1:19-20

The Apostle Paul writes two words in the opening of 1 Timothy 1:19 "keeping faith". The phrase "keeping faith" refers to maintaining in one's possession something that had been previously given. This command about "keeping faith" is vitally important for Christian to keep in mind as the "fight the good fight". Paul reinforces this statement by sounding a word of warning about two individuals who gave up "fighting the good fight" and thus failed to "keep the faith". 

A snapshot of what happens when we stop fighting for the faith
In 1 Timothy 1:20 we read - "Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan, so that they will be taught not to blaspheme." Scholars are not 100% certain who Alexander was, however we do know for certain the identity of Hymenaeus. Hymenaeus is mentioned one other time by Paul in his later letter of 2 Timothy 2:17-18 - "and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18 men who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and they upset the faith of some." What sign was there that this man had ceased fighting the good fight? 

For one thing, he was in doctrinal error as indicated by the fact he was claiming that "the resurrection has already taken place." In reading this phrase, it appears that his error was in asserting an alternative non-physical resurrection, and thus denying the future bodily resurrection of all saints, and more importantly, by implication, the denial of Jesus' bodily resurrection. The Bible Knowledge Commentary notes: "Greek philosophers typically viewed the soul as immortal and the body as its temporal prison. The idea of physical resurrection of the body, both Christ's and the Christian's, was therefore foreign and difficult for them to grasp. Hence there was a natural tendency toward heresies which rejected bodily resurrection. The heresy of Philetus and Hymenaeus probably involved the idea that resurrection was a purely spiritual affair which occurred at conversion or baptism."

The sign of when "fighting for one's faith" has ceased is when we cave into doctrinal error, but notice also how Hymenaeus gave into moral error. The damage he inflicted on the body of Christ is described by Paul in 2 Timothy 2:20 as "upsetting the faith of some". Now back in 1 Timothy 1:20 we read of Paul "handing him over to Satan", a round about way of saying that Hymenaeus had underwent some sort of church discipline. Undoubtedly there would had been a prolonged period of begging Hymenaeus to turn from his doctrinal error, per Jesus' instructions in Matthew 18. Sadly, such warnings wene unheeded and Hymenaeus was crossing moral bounderies and convincing others to follow him in his error. According to 2 Timothy 2:16 we read - "But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness." We know that he did not cease from his activity because when Paul wrote 2 Timothy some 3-4 years later, Hymenaeus' teaching was considered to be like rotting flesh or "gangrene". 

Reinforcing the fact that we need to fight for our faith 
2 Corinthians 6:7 presses us on to fight for our faith - "in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left". Jude 1:3-4 urges us - Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. 4 For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehandmarked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. 

What practical ways do we fight for our faith from the scriptures? First, claim the promises of God (Heb 12:1-3; 2 Peter 1:3-4). Secondly, make it your business to avoid sin (1 Thess 4:3). Thirdly, be all about instanct obedience to Jesus (John 14:21-23; Eph 6:10). Fourthly, follow the example of Jesus as set forth in the Gospels, proclaimed in Acts and explained in the epistles (Luke 2:38-42; Acts 10:38-41; 1 Peter 2:21).

Thus we fight the good fight of faith by fighting for our victory of faith and fighting for the faith itself. Tomorrow we will consider one more area in defining what it means to "fight the good fight"......

Fight for your victory of faith

1 Timothy 1:18-20 "This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you fight the good fight."

Introduction:

In today's post we want to understand what it means to "fight the good fight". As Paul wrote this first letter to young Pastor Timothy, he was instructing him on how one ought to conduct themselves in the living God's church (1 Timothy 3:15). In this first chapter of the letter we see Paul reminding Timothy and us of the important place church membership has in the growth of the Christian. (1 Timothy 1:1-11). As Paul lays out the anchoring points for his letter, he then pauses to thank the Lord for all that He did in calling Him in salvation and as an apostle, concluding his statements with a doxology of worship. (1 Timothy 1:12-17) Today's post considers Paul's tone as switching from that of thanksgiving to that of a general to a junior officer: fight the good fight. So what is meant by this phrase: "fight the good fight"? 

Fight for your victory of faith. 1 Tim 1:18

Commentator Adam Clarke notes regarding this phrase "fight the good fight" or as the KJV translates "war a good warfare": "The trials and afflictions of the followers of God are often represented as warfare and campaign." Isaiah 49:2 is cited by Clarke as evidence, being that it initially refers to God's original calling of Israel His people: "He has made My mouth like a sharp sword,In the shadow of His hand He has concealed Me; And He has also made Me a select arrow, He has hidden Me in His quiver." Interestingly enough Isaiah words later in that same chapter would set the stage for a Messianic prophecy concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom all Christians abide by grace alone through faith alone.

The Apostle Paul in particular was very fond of this military imagery in describing the Christian life. 1 Corinthians 9:7 utilizes this imagery and then 2 Corinthians 10:3-4 describes the Christian's fight of faith most pointedly: "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, 4 for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. 5 We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ."

Other passages such as Ephesians 6:10-12 commands us to wage the fight of faith by being "strong in the Lord and in the power of His might". Then of course who can forget the final words of the Apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 4:7 "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith."

All of these references have two things in common that are the cornerstones to today's post: fighting as a theme of the Christian life and secondly, victory in the Christian life. Christians living, working and making their pilgrimage through this world compose the church militant - the fighting church which ever advances Christ's Kingdom through missions, living Godly lives and saying no to sin. Romans 8:37-39 captures most clearly the tone of victory that is at the center of this idea of "fighting the good fight":  But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Tomorrow we will consider further all that is entailed in "Fighting the good fight"....

Tests Determining True from False Miracles: Pointing to the Biblical Jesus

Deuteronomy 13:1-3a “If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, 2 and the sign or the wonder comes true, concerning which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods (whom you have not known) and let us serve them,’3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams...".

Introduction and Review

The past couple of posts have been concerned with determining what are genuine miracles from God versus those that are of a counterfeit nature. We have considered two tests thus far: namely that a genuine Divine miracle will point back to the True and Living God and will confirm His Word, the Bible. 

I felt it necessary to include this particular discussion in this overall blog series on miracles because of the prevailing challenges posed by false religions and skeptics alike. This overall series has been concerned with both defining miracles and discerning true ones from false ones. The proposed definition of a miracle that emerged from our study is the following: "A miracle is an irregular, direct act of God that has attending signs the confirm God's personal identity, message and messenger." As we aim to draw this overall series on miracles to a conclusion, we will consider one more indicator regarding whether or not a given phenomena or event is a genuine miracle from God, namely....

True miracles point to the Biblical Jesus 

In Acts 16:16-18 we read: "It happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, a slave-girl having a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing her masters much profit by fortune-telling.17 Following after Paul and us, she kept crying out, saying, “These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation.” 18 She continued doing this for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And it came out at that very moment. This episode helps us to see clearly the difference between a counterfeit miracle and a true one.

The girl following Paul and his companions had a familiar spirit, a spirit of divination that had her owners claiming her ability to foretell the future. This girl's demonic possession was so-powerful and convincing that her unscrupulous masters had profited much from both her exploitation and the curious people who were willing to pay the price. As the girl followed Paul around, she told the truth about what Paul was doing, but notice the subtlety of the message: namely that attention was being put upon Paul, not Jesus! Paul could not allow this deceiving spirit to continue and so by the power of Jesus exorcised the demon.

This point is so vital because in today's world we have many religions and groups claiming to do miracles and speak in the name of God. However, in evaluating their claims, is their message and alleged miracles pointing to the Jesus revealed in the Bible or to the speaker or some other figure? 

Jesus Christ Himself came by means of one of the greatest miracles - the virgin birth. As God in human flesh, Jesus Christ was and still is the very embodiment of not only the miraculous, but the source of all true miracles: God Himself.  We read for example in John 10:25 "Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father’s name, these testify of Me." Then later on Jesus states plainly in  John 10:38 "but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.”

Closing thoughts

It is vital that we as God's people know how to discern truth from error. In-as-much as these past several posts have labored to show the reality of miracles, we must hasten to be sure that what we are seeing and hearing are genuine miracles (in the Biblical sense). We have seen that in order to discern true from false miracles, we must use the following three tests:

1. Does the miracle point to God?

2. Does the miracle point to His Word?

3. Does the miracle point to the Biblical Jesus?

Tests for determining true from false miracles: True miracles confirm God's Word

Deuteronomy 13:1-3a “If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, 2 and the sign or the wonder comes true, concerning which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods (whom you have not known) and let us serve them,’3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams...".

Introduction and Review

A couple of days ago we looked at the first test for determining true from false miracles: http://pastormahlon.blogspot.com/2014/11/tests-for-determining-true-from-false.html. This overall series on the miraculous has been concerned with both defining miracles and demonstrating their reality. This particular portion of the series is aiming to discern between true and false miracles, since God in the scripture reveals certain "tests" for doing so. The proposed definition of a miracle that emerged from our study is the following: "A miracle is an irregular, direct act of God that has attending signs the confirm God's personal identity, message and messenger."

We saw a couple of days ago that a true miracle will point people to the True and living God, whereas a counterfeit miracle will point to anything or anyone else but God. Today we consider how a true miracle will confirm God's Word.

True miracles confirm God's Word

Deuteronomy 18:21-22 states: "You may say in your heart, ‘How will we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?’ 22 When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him." Bible prophecy can be classed under the general designation of miracle, being that it is irregular, is directly done (or in this case 'spoken') by God, includes a sign (written words, or additional signs by the prophet or apostle communicating them) and confirms the message, messenger and God Himself (whether salvation or judgment). 

Why did Moses labor so hard in writing what He did under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit? There were false prophets claiming to speak in the name of the Lord in His day. Men such as Balaam in the book of Numbers convinced thousands of Israelites to follow him and commit immorality. (Numbers 22-25) In this case we have a prophet claiming to speak for God, however are his supposed "prophecies" corresponding to the words of scripture previously revealed? Does his message accurately predict the future? 

Isaiah 41:21-33 poses a similar test of judging whether a religious claim or a prophet is true or false based upon whether or not they accurately predict the future and describe the past. 

A true miracle will serve to point back to the scriptures and to the God revealed in them.  If any alleged miracle, sign or wonder does not point back to the Bible, the only conclusion to be drawn is that the source of the miracle or prophecy is either a human sleight-of-hand or occultic activity.

More tomorrow.....

Jesus teaches us how to be thankful

1 Corinthians 11:24
and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

1 Thessalonians 5:18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

I wish all who read this post today a happy Thanksgiving. I can think of no more appropriate person to look to give thanks nor learn from in giving thanks than Jesus Christ. In today's post I wanted to consider the instances in which Jesus gave thanks throughout his ministry.  How He gave thanks sets the pattern for the Christian in cultivating a life of thanksgiving to Him. Since giving thanks was common for Jesus throughout His earthly ministry, then it stands to reasons that giving thanks leads to Christ-like-ness. Below I will list all the references we find in the Gospel accounts concerning the times in which Jesus gave thanks.  My prayer is that they edify and encourage you and I in our faith walk. May you, dear reader, enjoy this wonderful day and give thanks to Jesus Christ our Savior, Lord and Treasure!

Matthew 15:36
"and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and giving thanks, He broke them and started giving them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people."

Matthew 26:27
"And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you."

Mark 8:6
"And He *directed the people to sit down on the ground; and taking the seven loaves, He gave thanks and broke them, and started giving them to His disciples to serve to them, and they served them to the people."

Mark 14:23
"And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank from it."

Luke 22:17
"And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He said, “Take this and share it among yourselves."

Luke 22:19
"And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

John 6:11
"Jesus then took the loaves, and having given thanks, He distributed to those who were seated; likewise also of the fish as much as they wanted."

John 6:23
"There came other small boats from Tiberias near to the place where they ate the bread after the Lord had given thanks."

Tests for determining true from false miracles - Points to the True God

Deuteronomy 13:1-3a “If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, 2 and the sign or the wonder comes true, concerning which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods (whom you have not known) and let us serve them,’3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams...".

Introduction and Review

We have been taking time to consider the simple question: what is a miracle? In the past four posts, we have explored various passages of scripture to arrive at a full answer to the question. The proposed answer and definition of a miracle that emerged from our study is the following: "A miracle is an irregular, direct act of God that has attending signs that confirm God's personal identity, message and messenger." 

We labored to show that contrary to what skeptics may say, the world in which we live and the scientific laws used to describe such a world do not exclude the possibility of miracles. Dr. Norman Geisler in his book: "Unshakable Foundations", quotes a helpful insight from C.S Lewis' book "God in the Dock": "This point of scientific method shows (what no one to my knowledge ever denied) that if miracles did occur, science, as science, could not prove, or disprove, their occurrence.What cannot be trusted to recur is not material for science: that is why history is not one of the sciences. You cannot find out what Napoleon did at the battle of Austerlitz by asking him to come and fight again in a laboratory with the same combat - go to the records. We have not, in fact, proved that science excludes miracles: we have only proved that the question of miracles, like innumerable other questions, excludes laboratory treatment."  

From the above quote and the observations made over the past few posts, there can be no doubt that to say there are absolutely no such thing as miracles is not based on scientific findings but rather skeptical worldview assumptions. 

With the above point made clear, and the definition of a miracle stated, we need to explore whether or not we can tell the difference between "true miracles" and counterfeits. Why? Because other non-Christian religions make claims to miracles. Mormonism for instance claims that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that the "Book of Mormon" was a revelation from God. Mormons will claim that their religion is a continuation of Biblical Christianity and actually corrects some of what was lost in the ensuing 2,000 year history of the Christian church. Can such claims be truly evaluated? This blogger thinks they can. This blogger will propose that three tests from the Bible can evaluate whether a given miracle claim (whether it be a sign, wonder, working, revelation or vision) that claims to be from God is actually from God. Today's post will consider the first of those tests.

How to tell the difference between true and false miracles

True miracles point to the True God

In our proposed definition for miracles we stated: "A miracle is an irregular, direct act of God that has attending signs the confirm God's personal identity, message and messenger." Out of all the words in this definition, the most important one is the term "God". When looking at a potentially miraculous event, we need to ask whether or not the miracle points us to the God of the Bible or to a demonic source. Deuteronomy 13:1-3 is an interesting text in that it does not deny the possibility of false prophets and counterfeit miracles. 

In the opening text of today's post, the assertion being made by Moses is that just because a miraculous event has been done does not necessarily mean God is the source of it. The key phrase in the passage is found in Deuteronomy 13:2, where the worker of the alleged miracle tells the people to go after other gods and serve them. According to the remainder of Deuteronomy 13:3, we read that God in His Sovereignty permits such activity to test the people to see where their heart are at. 

So a counterfeit miracle will not point to the true and living God but rather will point to the demonic forces behind such counterfeit signs. Let the reader be reminded that any god or deity worshiped by man is a demon (1 Corinthians 10) and is not the True and Living God of scripture. 

So would Joseph's Smith's alleged visions, Book of Mormon and the other Mormon literature (Pearl of Great Price and Doctrine and Covenants) pass the above test? In having read those documents, we discover from Mormonism that God is not the One God revealed in Three Persons of the Bible. Rather the Mormon deity is a multitude of gods that were men who became deified. The god over this world of ours was, in Mormon teaching, a man like us who became a god. The Mormon Jesus is going through the process of development. Just by viewing the Mormon teaching on God, we discover that their view of deity and the Biblically revealed God are totally different, thus marking Mormonism as a non-biblical religion and the Book of Mormon and its attendant volumes as books of a man's imagination. 

In a future post we will consider another test we can use to determine if a given miracle claim is a true miracle from God or a fraud.

What is a miracle? Miracles convey a message about the God of the Bible

Hebrews 2:3-4 "how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, 4 God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and byvarious miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will."


Introduction & Review
We have spent the past three days discussing the reality and nature of the miraculous. We have aimed in this series to answer the question: what is a miracle? Thus far in our study we have proposed three parts of our overall answer to that question:

1. Miracles are irregular events
2. Miracles are directly done by God
3. Miracles include visible signs

Today's post continues our discussion with the goal of proposing a full definition and answer to this question regarding miracles. My prayer is that this discussion had aided readers in not only better understanding miracles, but also the place of miracles in the defense of the Christian faith and in seeing how awesome the God of the Bible really is. 

Miracles convey a message about the God of the Bible
Whether we are talking about Moses, the prophets, Jesus or the Apostles, the miraculous was manifested by God to convey a message. The messages that were typically heralded with their attending miracles were either ones of Divine judgment or salvation. We have seen that miracles can be defined as: irregular events directly done by God and including visible signs. However what are their chief purpose? Are miracles mainly for showing off? If a person has the gift of healing, can they at will go in and empty hospitals to gain notoriety for themselves or do things that would cause the world to lay at their feet? 

If such motivations or results occur, then we are not dealing with a God-sourced miracle, but rather either a fraud performing sleight-of-hand tricks or some type of demonic counterfeit. 

In Exodus 34:10 we see this beginning sentence: "Then God said, 'Behold, I am going to make a covenant....". Why is it that God did all the "workings", "signs" and "wonders" in and through the nation of Israel? To convey the fact that out of all the nations of the earth, Israel was His chosen people. When the Apostle Peter states in Acts 10:38 "You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him". We ask the question: what purpose were miracles wrought by Jesus? Answer: to make known His identity and person as God in human flesh. 

The 35 miraculous events surrounding Jesus Christ were designed to communicate as much as possible the truth of Who He was. Hebrews 2:3 says these words - "how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard." The Apostolic signs, workings and wonders were designed by God to validate and communicate to onlookers the authenticity of the message and messengers. 

Closing thoughts:
Today we have spent some time answering the question: What is a miracle? In our brief study of a few key passages we have discovered key headings that can aid in answering such a question:

1. Miracles are irregular events
2. Miracles are directly done by God
3. Miracles include visible signs
4. Miracles convey a message about the God of the Bible

With this four-fold description, we can offer the following answer to the question: "What is a miracle?" A miracle is an irregular event directly done by God that includes visible signs that aim to convey a message confirming God's power, message and messenger." Tomorrow we will consider a very important issue in this study: namely how to tell whether or not an alleged miracle is truly from God or a counterfeit.