TRUTH: How Can We Know? (Article 5)

It is evident that the first points, self-consciousness, God-consciousness, and righteousness-consciousness are so often not though of by people as they consider what the truth is.  This is natural as they are intuitive.  The last point we discussed, internal consistency, is all too often ignored as people settle for a religion or world view that makes them feel good or comforts their guilt ridden conscience to some degree and confirms them in their own pride and lusts (sin).  We must understand that man is notorious for comforting himself with lies!

God, through His prophet Isaiah, confronted ancient Israel with her purposeful self-deception.
"...ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves." (Isaiah 28:15)  The fact is that it is impossible to maintain lies before the God of truth.

As God has stated,
"When a wicked man dieth, his expectation shall perish: and the hope of unjust men perisheth." (Proverbs 11:7)

You can carry lies all through your life; but, when you arrive before the Holy Judge of all, a person's refuge (hiding place) of lies will completely fall apart.

The fifth step in knowing the truth is taught to us by the Lord Jesus Christ in the Gospel of Mark, chapter 2.

Here is what that says...
"1  And again he entered into Capernaum after some days; and it was noised that he was in the house.
2  And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them.
3  And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four.
4  And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay.
5  When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.
6  But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts,
7  Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?
8  And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts?
9  Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk?
10  But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,)
11  I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.
12  And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion."

Note the following...
(a)    The man with the palsy (paralysis) came to be physically healed.
(b)    Jesus addressed this man's sins, by forgiving them.
(c)    The scribes (Jewish religious teachers) were shocked as they knew only God can forgive sin, which is exactly true.

Now we come to the central teaching of this whole account.
Jesus asks, "Whether is it easier to say... Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk?"  Good questions.  Note that Jesus did not say, 'Whether is easier to do?,' but, "whether is it easier to say?"  To say something like "thy sin be forgiven thee" or "take up thy bed and walk" is to make a claim that is either verifiable or not verifiable.  The fact is that all statements that can be spoken by anyone will fit into one of these categories.  Both types of statements are normal to life and relationships and communication.  In the two statements Jesus makes here, he makes both a verifiable and a non-verifiable statement.  "Take up thy bed and walk" is verifiable; the man will either be healed and walk and Jesus shown to be true, or the man will remain unchanged and Jesus will be shown to be false.  "Thy sins be forgiven thee" is not verifiable; But, that does not automatically mean it is false, just that, you cannot see the results or give historical or scientific corroboration for it.  Whether or not you believe it is entirely based on the character of the person that makes the claim.  Does the person deserve to be believed?

What now?
Jesus continues (verse 10-12), " But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,)  I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.  And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all"    [The Bible reason for all the miracles done by Jesus Christ and His Apostles was to show Jesus to be TRUE.]

The purpose for Jesus making the verifiable statement is so that we may see that He is true, that He is Who He says He is, and then have the confidence in Him to believe the things he says that we cannot verify.  Faith is the entrusting of our selves to a non-verifiable statement, such as a promise of God.  Promises are realized in the future.  The things God has given us in the Bible that are verifiable give us irrefutable warrant to trust God on everything else He says.

This is why internal consistency cannot stand alone, it must be accompanied by verifiablity.

I would submit to you that books like the Book of Mormon, Hindu writings, Buddhist writings, and the Koran (etc.) are either not verifiable (they make lots of claims without those claims being testable) or are verified as false where they are testable.  Therefore, I can discount them.

The Bible is unique in this way.  God took some 1,600 hundred years to reveal His entire Word to man because He did so through the history of men and nations for the very purpose that we (God's rational creatures) would be able the verify the Scriptures as TRUE, and have overwhelming confidence that we can trust God for the things that are not verifiable (like promises, and many other things).  If God had just dropped the completed Bible down to man we would have no way to verify its truthfulness.

Isn't God awesome!  And because God has created you a responsible rational free-willed creature God treats you as such and will judge you as such.  That is why I beg of you to pay close attention to the Bible, God's Word; your life and eternity depend on you knowing and submitting yourself to the truth.

The Bible is Verifiable by its...
          (1)    People (ancient documentation).
          (2)    Places (geography).
          (3)    Nations / civilizations.
          (4)    Customs.
          (5)    Israel (God's chosen nation).
          (6)    Historic events.
          (7)    Fulfilled prophecy (the Bible is 100% accurate in all prophecies to date).

Therefore, we are without excuse!

Can I challenge you to not make excuses or trust in lies.  Knowing the truth is not complicated, but it will require some work on your part to hear and think and test.  If you want to know God will help you.

THE TEST FOR TRUTH IS NOT IF YOU LIKE IT OR NOT!

TRUTH: How Can We Know? (Article 4)

Sequoia tree, California.

Internal Consistency

We should expect truth to be consistent with truth.

Jesus said,

"Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:"

If a person makes two statements and those two statements are not compatible, or are contradictory, we know that (a) one or both of the statements are false, and (b) the person is at least partially wrong.

We live like this daily in our relationships with other people.  We meet a new person, we begin with their name and where they are from, how old they are, and begin to get to know them.  We begin a new relationship with a mix of trust and caution. As we learn more of this person--their actions and words--we look for consistency.  We judge as to weather or not their words and actions are consistent.  Our trust or caution (dis-trust) for this person will increase or decrease according to their consistency.  [External verify-ability also comes into play, but that will be dealt with in the next article.]

Internal consistency cannot stand alone.  A series of lies may advance in perfectly logical sequence and have internal consistency.  Internal consistency must come under the scrutiny of verify-ability--next article.

This requires something of you.  To know the truth will require that you care about knowing it enough to work at it.

Personal Testimony:
In regards to the Bible: I came to know Jesus Christ personally when I was 15 years old and I have been studying the Bible ever since.  Over the years there have been a few things that I initially thought may be contradictions--things I could not see how they were consistent.  But, after more study found, as I learned more of the God's Word (the Bible), that the Bible was demonstrated to be consistent.  This has happened so many times that when I now come across something I do not understand I try to be patient and keep studying.  Besides, I realized that it was high-minded pride to assume just because I do not understand the Bible that the Bible must be wrong.  What a fool I can be.

The fact that the Bible has been written by 40 different men over a period exceeding 1,400 years and conveys a singular and consistent message is a testimony that the Bible is exactly what it claims to be--the Words of God to man.

You will be able to find many people that say the Bible is full of contradictions.  I have found that these people fall into two basic categories: (1) Those that claim the Bible has contradictions but could not open a Bible and show you these supposed contradictions.  Most fit into this category.  (2) Those in academia that approach the Bible with the pre-condition that all is doubted until proclaimed true by human intellect or observation.  On this second point let me ask, who lives like this?  When a person tells you what they did this past weekend and it is a consistent account do you say, "I will not believe a word you are saying until I see empirical evidence.'  Even in Western law we deal with people on the basis of innocent until proven guilty.  When a claim is made the onus is on you to disprove it; not on the one making the claim to prove it.

Can I challenge you to take personal responsibility for the truth.  As I have written before, there are many voices speaking out there.  The Lord Jesus asks you, "For what shall it profit [you], if [you] shall gain the whole world, and lose [your] own soul? Or what shall [you] give in exchange for [your] soul?" (Mark 8:36-37).  If you will begin reading the Bible intelligently and patiently, desiring to know the truth, you will be rewarded.

TRUTH: How Can We Know? (Article 3)

People deal differently with the search for the truth.  Some despair of ever finding it.  Some reject; they have found truths and do not like what they have found.  Some cannot be bothered to deal with the consequences of truth and/or do not want to be distracted from their here-and-now pursuits / pleasures.  Many redefine truth to be subjective so that they can claim to have truth without the consequences of real truth.

In the two previous articles on the subject of how to know truth we spoke of self-consciousness and then God-consciousness.  Man is a rational creature.  God is our rational Creator.  And God has given man what is needed to know God (Creator), who is truth, and truth about the creation, including ourselves (mankind).  Note:  Man is not the source of truth.  God is truth!

In addition to the first two steps in knowing the truth (self-consciousness and God-consciousness) comes our third step, that being Consciousness of Righteousness.  Some might like to use the term moral-consciousness, but the term righteousness (definite right, opposed to definite wrong) is much stronger and communicates the truth much better.
Note:  Consciousness of righteousness does not mean man is righteous, or does right.  That is a separate issue.

Romans 2:14-15
"For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:  Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;"

The context of these statements is that the Gentile (non-Jewish) ancient world (BC.) had no written revelation from God in apposition to the Jews, who had the written Scriptures (The Old Testament).  You can read the entire chapter for this context (www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Rom&c=2&t=KJV).  

What this means is that when the Apostle Paul writes "when the Gentiles, which have not the law," the "law" he is referring to is the Old Testament Scriptures--written down and readable/learn-able . 

Central Fact.

Every man has the God-given consciousness of right and wrong, consciousness of righteousness.

This fact is demonstrated universally in the experience of man.  Even a headhunter in Papua New Guinea who has killed and eaten other men, whose conscience may be blunted by repeated offense, is angered and affronted when he is the one being hunted, or another tribal member is the victim--vengeance must be taken.  Even a compulsive thief feels offended when he is stolen from.  Have you ever told a lie about another person (or some such situation) and justified yourself that you did right and then one day found out that someone has been lying about you and felt that you were wronged?  Of course you have.

Consciousness of right and wrong does not mean men do right.  Men can, and do, corrupt their consciences by repeated sinning against their consciences.  Nevertheless, conscience of righteousness is in each man.

How does this relate to how we can know the truth?

Simply, you have a God-given point of reference at which you and God can relate to each other.

This internal consciousness of righteousness means that you can begin to understand yourself, your Creator, why the two of your are at odds, and how God has provided the only way for you to get right with Him.  This is huge!

Verses 13, 14, and 15 of Romans chapter 2 form a parenthetical statement, meaning they are interjected into another line of thought.  Please understand that it is eternally essential for you to know the truth now in this life--the real and only truth--as revealed by the God of truth, for there is coming a day of judgment.

Fact:  "For there is no respect of persons with God."--Romans 2:11.  All men of all ages, of all nations, and of all classes are equally responsible before their Creator.

Fact:  "For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law:"--Romans 2:12a.  All men that have never had the Bible of all ages, of all nations , of all classes are condemned for their sin.

Fact:  "and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;"--Romans 2:12b.  All men that have had the Bible of all ages, of all nations, of all classes are condemned for their sin.

Fact:  "In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men..."--Romans 2:16a.  There is an appointed judgment day and God is the judge from Whom nothing shall be hid.

Fact:  "...by Jesus Christ..."--Romans 2:16b.  God's Son, Jesus Christ, is your Judge and will judge you if you die in your sin.

Fact:  "...according to my gospel."--Romans 2:16c.  Jesus Christ will judge you according to what is in the Holy Scriptures.  

This is the third article in this series on How Can We Know Truth? and there are at least three more to come.  I trust that you see that this is not confusing.  No doubt you have many questions; please stay tuned and keep reading.

Can I encourage you to get a Holy Bible.  May I recommend reading the book of Genesis and the Gospel of John.  If you are an English speaking person, and I assume you are since this article is written in English, please get a King James, Authorized Version (not a New King James, that is different).  The King James Bible translation has all the words and is a thoroughly faithful and long proven translation that can be completely trusted.  The "thees" and "thous" are there for a very important reason.  Email me and I will tell you why.

TRUTH: How Can We Know? (Article 2)

Many people think that the Bible is a compilation of the religious writings of men.  But that is not what the Bible claims for itself.  The Bible had over 40 different human writers spanning at least 1,600 years.  But none of these men claimed that what they wrote was their thoughts; the Bible consistently claims in every book that God is the author and the men are God's chosen prophets.  [How to know whether or not this is true will be dealt with in coming articles.]

This is a little background to...

The first words of the Bible are...
                              "In the beginning God..."

The Bible everywhere assumes the existence of God and nowhere attempts to prove it.

You do not need to prove that which is self-evident; that which everyone knows.

Read this, if you would...

Romans 1:18-23
"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;  because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.  For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:  because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.  Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,  and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things."

1)  God says men hold the truth (in context God is not saying men hold all truth, but the specific truth of God's existence and power).

2)  The truth of God's existence is "manifest in them"--revealed, or made know, in them.

3)  "God hath shewed it unto them"--God has given man this knowledge in the creation.

4)  This knowledge is clearly see and understood by man.

What does man know about God without any one teaching them--intuitively?  Man knows "God's eternal power and Godhead."

Eternal = God is not created.  God is the non-created creator of the universe.  To use philosophical terms, God is the un-caused cause.
Power = God is the all-mighty.  The one that created the oceans, the sun!!! and the expansive universe with all its stars is all-powerful.
God-head = personal (thinking, reasoning, willful, feeling) Lord (ruler; king; judge) over His creation.  Of course, this is not all we need to know about God, but it is the start.  More on that is subsequent articles.

The first step in knowing the truth is the truth of Self-consciousness.

The second step in knowing the truth is the truth of...

God-consciousness.

Many will say, "many people are atheists" and they believe there is no God; surely, they are denying this God-consciousness.

Consider...
a)    Men are notorious for claiming and acting contrary to the truth.  How many misguided women have gone and married a man in the face of the truth that he is a good for nothing, drunken, and a violent tempered man.  "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." (Luke 12:34)--where you place value is where your heart will be focused / loyal / dedicated.

b)    Knowing the truth and submitting our lives to the truth are two different things.

c)    All cultures over all known history are God-conscious.  And, by far, the vast majority of these never knew about the Bible.

Why people deny the truth about God's existence is dealt with in the Bible text above.
i)    Man holds the truth in unrighteousness.  He holds it but refuses to submit to it.

ii)    Man knows this truth about God but decides to not glorify God in truth, nor be thankful to God for who He is and creating us, etc.

iii)   The decision to believe a lie (that is what happens when you deny the truth) causes man's imaginations to become vain (worthless) and their foolish hearts to be darkened.  Truth is likened unto light.  If you keep blowing the candles out soon you will be groping in the dark.

iv)    Man changed the glory of God into idolatry; man worships idols; man worships the creation instead of the creator--i.e. mother earth, father time, zen--getting in tune with the universe, the spirit of the bear, the fox, the water, and on we could go.

The Bible is clear that men does "not like to retain God in their knowledge."  The existence of God does not offend man's intellect, it offends man's pride, self-will, and heart desires.  But notice, God will not forget about this wickedness of man.  Man is without excuse, condemned, and under the coming wrath of God unless man comes to believe God.  What do I mean?

The Bible reveals, "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." (Hebrews 11:6)  Two things: (1st) "believe that he is"--believe in the existence of God.  (2nd) "that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him"--believe in God as your only hope.

The first point is easy.  God-consciousness is what this article has been discussing.  And remember I said that the Bible does not seek to prove God's existence, but assumes it because all men already know it.

The second point is what the Bible is all about.  The Bible gives the TRUE answers to this.  Why God is our hope?  How God is our hope?  Why God is our only hope?  How do I enter into this hope in light of my guilt?  Etc.

You ask:  how do I know the Bible is true?  Well, be patient, we are getting there.

TRUTH: How Can We Know?

I have visited the Grand Canyon twice.  The great expanse is bewildering; it is hard to take it all in.

Speaking of being bewildered, tragically, people get bewildered as they contemplate how to know what is true.  May I suggest that knowing the answers to the questions of life, purpose, man, God and what is next is not bewildering.  It is graspable by each person.  I suggest that what is bewildering about knowing the truth is the many many many many many many and many voices out there saying what they believe the true answers to life's questions are.  Included in those voices is your own.  There are truths that you just do not like (or will not) and would rather another answer.

TWO THINGS THAT ARE CONTRARY CANNOT BOTH BE TRUTH!

Where to begin?  Where do I begin to cut through the chatter and get at the truth?  The starting point is actually one that is so intuitive that hardly anyone mentions it.  And if it were not for the fact that it really is the first step in knowing the truth it would not need to be mentioned.   But, it is so commonly assumed in our thinking that it is neglected in conversation.

Self-consciousness.

You know you are here and that you are a conscious knowing being.  There is nothing I can quote or cite to prove it.  Any person that says, 'I am not real / I am not here,' defeats their own proposition by speaking the word "I."  To deny your existence is lunacy.

Because you are self-conscious of your existence and rationality you can have confidence that further truth is knowable.

I am planning at least two more articles on the subject of How We Can Know Truth.  Please check back.  It does get more interesting.

Absolute Beauty

Beauty in NOT in the eye of the beholder.  The statement, 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder," is subjective, making the beholder the judge of beauty.  The Bible is clear and reality cannot be avoided, God is judge of all.  You might think this an obscure subject.  Nevertheless, how you view beauty stems from how you view God; therefore, it is of the utmost importance.

• "Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness." (1Chronicles 16:29)
• "Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness." (Psalm 29:2)
• "And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it."  (Psalm 90:17)
• "Honour and majesty are before him: strength and beauty are in his sanctuary."  (Psalm 96:6)
• "O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth."  (Psalm 96:9)
• "Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth."  (Psalm 110:3)
• "For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty! corn shall make the young men cheerful, and new wine the maids."  (Zechariah 9:17)

Holiness is the supreme attribute of God.  All that makes God Who He is is holiness.  Holiness is the sum of all God is.  Holiness also includes all that makes God distinct (different) from all other beings.  Holiness equals God's uniqueness--"To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One."  (Isaiah 40:25)

The beauty of holiness means that God is absolute beauty; God is beauty, and the standard by which we and all our ideas and actions are judged.  God is truth, life, righteousness, justice, grace, mercy, love, longsuffering, and many other things.  It is not a contradiction in God to be "angry with the wicked every day" (Psa. 7:11) and so love the world that He gave His only begotten Son (Jhn. 3:16).  It is God's nature to be just and merciful.  How to be both just and merciful is only something God can do!

SIN IS ABSOLUTELY UGLY!  God sins not, it is not in His nature to sin.  If there is beauty then there is ugly.  God's people are commanded: "whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." (Philippians 4:8)  If there is lovely then there is ugly.

The Psalmist writes, "When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth: surely every man is vanity. Selah."  (Psalm 39:11)  The Living God is seeking men out today; He loves men.  When God confronts you from the Word of God--the Bible--you are repulsed and/or offended.  Why? because God is ugly?  No, because God's sinless holy beauty exposes our utter wretchedness.  When you are compared to God you are left with no standing.  The Lord Jesus taught this same truth in these terms, " And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved." (John 3:19-20)

Ezekiel chapter 16 is, in my opinion, one of the most graphic metaphors in the Bible.  It is arresting.  The nation Israel's parentage is described as being of Amorite and Hittite--Biblically, these were nations of the grossest depravity.  The nation Israel is described as a discarded newborn baby (live post-birth abortion-a.k.a. exposure).  None pitied, and there she lay in an open field in the afterbirth and blood.  There is no beauty in sin.  SIN IS ABHORRENT TO GOD!

Now read the description of what God did.  "(6) And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live; yea, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live.  ...  (9) Then washed I thee with water; yea, I throughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil.   ...   (14) And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord GOD."  (Ezekiel 16: 6-14)

There is no one like God (the God of the Bible).  Although there was no beauty in Israel (all sin), God took pity, was merciful, and cleansed away their filthiness (justice) and then taught them about Himself that they may be beautified.

Friend please consider the following facts....
1.    You are a sinner in whom is no beauty and righteousness before the eyes of the Holy God Almighty.

• "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:   ...   There is no fear of God before their eyes."  (Romans 3:10-18, read the entire passage:  http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/book.php?book=Romans&chapter=3&verse=)
• "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." (Isaiah 64:6)

2.    All sin MUST be punished.

• "Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die." (Ezekiel 18:4)
• "For the wages of sin is death;"  (Romans 6:23)
• "He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?" (Hebrews 10:28-29)

3.    God sent His beautiful righteous Son to take your punishment upon Himself as your sacrificial substitute.

• "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." (Luke 19:10)
• "Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many."  (Matthew 20:28)
• "For he [God] hath made him [Jesus] to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." (2Corinthians 5:21)

4.    What Jesus Christ did on the cross by dying and shedding His precious sinless blood is the only way to have your sin cleansed, yourself forgiven by God, and be given the gift of eternal life.  There is only ONE way.

• "In whom we have redemption through his blood , even the forgiveness of sins:   ...   And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven."  (Colossians 1:14, 20)
• "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;  But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:  Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,  Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God." (1Peter 1:18-21)

5.    God commands all men (you) to repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ that they might be saved from their own sin and God's wrath to some.

• "And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:" (Acts 17:30)
• "I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." (Luke 13:3)  Repentance is a heart brokenness over my sinful ugliness and a turning to God and His beautiful holiness.
• "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.  For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed." (Romans 10:9-11)  Faith is trusting my entire life and soul for now and eternity to one, Christ Jesus.

6.    There is nothing you can do to earn the gift of eternal life.

• "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Jesus said...
"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6)

God has declared...
"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." (Acts 4:12)

There is one God.  There is only one way to God.  There is only one saviour, Jesus Christ--God in the flesh.  There is only one truth.

GOD is LOVE NOT SENTIMENTALITY

Sentimentality is a state or thought or action arising from feeling and not from truth or reason.  Sentimentality is, by nature, divorced from reality/truth. Since God is TRUTH, sentimentality is contrary to God--"That he who blesseth himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth; and he that sweareth in the earth shall swear by the God of truth..." (Isaiah 65:16)  Jesus said, "But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." (John 4:23-24)   An all too common example:  a teen son or daughter wants to go to a party where there will be booze, drugs, and fornication (sex out of marriage).  The mother and/or father knows that their child will come in contact with, and participate in drunkenness, drug addiction, and fornication with all its degradation, STD's and possible pregnancy.  Dad and mom do not want their child to go but the child cries and complains that they are not trusted, they are treated like a child, they are in control of their lives, the parents do not love them, etc.  They appeal emotionally to their parents and the parents, in the face of the facts, against the truth, and against all reason, are moved emotionally to allow their child to go into certain life threatening danger.  THAT IS NOT LOVE, BUT SENTIMENTALITY!

Love is something quite the opposite.  Firstly, love is an unchanging absolute. This fact stems from one supreme reason: because, "He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love." (1John 4:8)  That means that the nature and character of God defines love.  God Himself defines love.  In so many places we find the definition of love in the Scriptures (the Bible).  There are a couple that are concise, namely John 3:16 and 1John 3:16-17.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)
"Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.    But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?" (1John 3:16-17)

When God looks at you (and all men) he does not see beauty, God's sees rebellious sinners deserving of eternal Hell fire.  ["They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good." (Psalm 14:1);  "But the scripture hath concluded all under sin" (Galatians 3:22);  "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly." (Romans 5:6)]

God's love for you (and all men) is not based upon an emotional response--sentimentality.  God's love for you is based upon God's own nature and the fact that you are in absolute need of only that which God can supply.  The most basic definition of love is given in 1John 3:17 (above):  When one sees another in need and has what is needed love demands the fulfilling of that need regardless of deserving-ness.

Love can never be inconsistent with truth, including justice.  It is written in the Bible, "The Syrians before, and the Philistines behind; and they shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still." (Isaiah 9:12)  The context of this statement is ancient Israel under God's judgement because of their rebellion, yet His hand of loving mercy was stretched out still, even when judgement was falling.  God was ready to pardon them, something that was an absolute need and that they could not begin to do themselves.

Love requires a response.  God "now commandeth all men every where to repent" (Acts 17:30).  And we preach the remission (complete pardon) of sins through the sacrificially shed blood of the eternal Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was raised from the dead bodily.

God's LOVE is consistent with HELL!  If you remain in your sin you will be punished--God has loved you and you have refused!  There is nothing left but a fearful looking for eternal damnation.

My friend...
God has revealed Himself through His awesome creation.
God has revealed Himself through sending His Son, Christ Jesus.
God has revealed Himself through His written Word, the Bible.

You are without excuse.

Yes, God's condemnation is upon you but the hand of God's love is currently outstretched to you...
Outstretched because GOD gave HIS SON to die for YOU!
Outstretched because you are alive and reading this and there is time to seek God, through His Son.
Outstretched because God is providentially working in your life to lead you to the only salvation in His Son, Christ Jesus.
Outstretched because the Holy Spirit of God is convicting you of your sin and absolute need of Christ Jesus and His salvation.

God has written, "Behold, I set before you the way of life, and the way of death."  (Jeremiah 21:8)

God will not deal with you by sentimentality.  God is truth, God is just, God is righteous, God is love, and He will never pervert Himself.  It is you that must repent and be changed by God!  To stay as you are is death.

"He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.  These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God."  (1John 5:12-13)