[Vision2020] Response to Mr. Gier - Part 2

Wed, 10 Mar 2004 12:30:57 -0800

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Dear Mr. Gier:
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This is the conclusion and part two of my response to your several questions concerning the Bible. Considering all that you have written, I know that you are already familiar with what I have presented as far as argumentation for believing the Bible to be the inerrant, inspired Word of God and have dismissed it based on your approach to the Bible.&nbsp; That is why I have referred you to several very scholarly works by several prominent and highly esteemed theologians knowing full well that if you will not hear from them, then surely anything I say will fall on deaf ears.&nbsp; I have written no books, but I have studied a few in my day. But, as I said before, our presuppositions and our approach to the Bible are fundamentally!
 from two different worlds.
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Having said that, however, what I have gathered from your writing is this.&nbsp; It is obvious that you have a sense of man’s need for God, and while I can appreciate that, it’s my firm belief, based on the Scriptures, that you have taken that very God-given sense of deity and twisted it and distorted it into a god or god(s) of your own making.&nbsp; The very Scriptures you refute confirm this.
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“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.&nbsp; For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.&nbsp; Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed t!
 he glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man – and birds and four footed animals and creeping things.&nbsp; Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever, Amen” Romans 1:1-25
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Paul says here that you have refused to allow God to reveal himself to you through His Word, and because of that, you have turned your sense of God into a distorted notion of who and what constitutes God.&nbsp; Paul speaks of this very same thing with the philosophers of his own day.&nbsp; In Acts 17, Paul goes out of his way to reason with those who think they have it all figured out.&nbsp; In the midst of the Areopagus he says to them,
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“Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.&nbsp; Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: God made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands.&nbsp; </S!
 PAN>Nor is He worshipped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He give to all life, breath, and all things.&nbsp; And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’&nbsp; Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising.” Acts 17:22-29
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Paul is telling them here in Acts the same thing he said in Romans Chapter 1 – Men, you&nbsp; know the truth but you suppress it – even your own poets say these things, so why are your making God into something of your own devising?&nbsp; You exchange the truth of God for a lie – professing yourselves to be wise you refuse to submit to God’s revelation in nature and therefore that knowledge is corrupted.&nbsp; You are religious, but instead of that leading you to the one true God through Christ and the Scriptures, you have become idolaters and you worship a figment of your own imaginations, a god of your own devising.&nbsp; On your own, you are blind!
 .&nbsp; Paul elsewhere speaks to human wisdom,
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"Your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God" 1 Cor. 2:5.
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“Let no one deceive himself.&nbsp; If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise.&nbsp; For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.&nbsp; For it is written, ‘He catches the wise in their own craftiness’; and again, ‘The Lord knows the thought of the wise, that they are futile.”&nbsp; Therefore let no one boast in men. For all things are yours;” 1 Corinthians 3:18-21<o:p></o:p>
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“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.&nbsp; For it is written:&nbsp; ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.’&nbsp; Where is the wise?&nbsp; Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age?&nbsp; Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?&nbsp; For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.”</SPA!
 N> 1 Corinthians 1:18-21<o:p></o:p>
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“For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called, but God chose the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the thing which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are that no flesh should glory in His presence.”1 Corinthians 1:26-29 <o:p></o:p>
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Paul goes on in Acts 17 to say, 
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“Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has ordained, He has given assurance of this all by raising Him from the dead.
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Paul presses the point with the philosophers of his day – you need to repent. The day of Jesus Christ and His kingdom have arrived and God has announced that you are culpably ignorant.&nbsp; God has raised Christ from the dead and He commands repentance - turn away from your sin and turn toward righteousness.&nbsp; Jesus Christ lived, was crucified, buried, resurrected and now sits at the right hand of God ruling and reigning until He makes His enemies His footstool.&nbsp; He will come to judge the living and the dead because He has overcome sin, Satan and death and you’d better repent now, the time is at hand.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Paul says in I Corint!
 hians 15: 20, 23-26:
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“But now Christ is risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.&nbsp; But every man in his own order; Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at His coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.&nbsp; For He must reign till He hath put all enemies under His feet.&nbsp; The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.”
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“I charge thee therefore before God, the Lord Jesus Christ who shall judge the quick and the dead at His appearance and His Kingdom.” II Timothy 4:1
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“…for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.” Romans 14:10<o:p></o:p>
“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” Hebrews 9:27
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I close with this scripture, “Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God.&nbsp; He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son.&nbsp; If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; for he who greets him shares in his evil.” 2 John 9-11.<o:p></o:p>
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As I said, orthodox and historic Christianity has always claimed exclusivity. It claims both ultimate truth and authority and therefore, its claims are not tolerated, even by the “tolerant”.&nbsp; The embracing of every god out there is not a form of “tolerance,” as so many would like to term it.&nbsp; Rather, that is pantheism, and the Bible calls it idolatry. Christianity is its antithesis. Nothing will change that fact – not all the “scholarship,” in the world, &nbsp;nor the systems men can devise.&nbsp; The God of the Bible alone is Sovereign, and Christians everywhere, past and present, have held to the great truths He has given in His Word.&nbsp; </SPA!
 N>It is my prayer that He will reveal Himself to you as you read that living Word.<o:p></o:p>
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For the Sake of the Gospel,<o:p></o:p>
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P.S. Stile<o:p></o:p>
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“The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.”<o:p></o:p>
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you. If you are a mocker, you alone will suffer.&nbsp;Proverbs 9:10-11</DIV></div> <hr> <a href="http://g.msn.com/8HMBENUS/2749??PS=">Get business advice and resources to improve your work life, from bCentral.</a> </html>