There is a popular concept now among the hipster, cool, quasi-religious wannabees, and that is that religion is outmoded. It is passe. It is so passe, we need to get out of the four walls of the church, where there is dusty doctrine, and “worship” a “God” in the way that seems right to them.
If you can’t understand the bible and do not want to do what it says then it stands to reason that they don’t want to be where it is preached, not submitting to its authority
We’ve seen over and over that the world rejects the Holy God and they do this in many ways. They reject the Son outright and go to idols (Hindus, for example, or Buddhists or Muslims). They do this by rejecting the Spirit unto blasphemy (Blaspheming the Holy Spirit, Charismatic Chaos). Lately, the most popular way to reject truth has been to reject His Word. In all sorts of ways, they reject the clarity, sufficiency, and authority of the word.
One way is by what I’ve written about this week, is that people reject His written truth, by saying that doctrine can’t be understood absolutely. The harshest push-back I receive on this blog and in life is not from atheists but from people who call themselves “Christians.” When I say that doctrine matters or that false teachers abound, Katie bar the door.
It is hard to call yourself a Christian when you reject the total package outright, so they claim Christianity but subvert the authority of the Word by saying it cannot be understood and to attempt to understand it is arrogance.
However, no matter if the person is an atheist or a Christian-in-name-only or a worshiper in a different religion, the soul longs for eternity.
“He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11)
This verse means that earthly pursuits are unprofitable when they become a primary pursuit, they are not life’s chief good. God has put eternity in man’s heart, meaning, He originally made man for His eternal purpose, and after the fall, we became separated from it. The heart still longs for that purpose though, and will never be completely satisfied unless he becomes complete. Gloriously, the only completion is in Him…who they reject. How circular. Therefore they seek but do not find. (John 7:34)
That’s why they continue in their pseudo-religious activities. Like this one:
“Religion-Free Bible” is now published.
The Religion-Free website, by Jim Palmer, says that there are 25 reasons the world needs a religion-free bible, number one being “The Bible is not a religious book.”
Huh?
Number two on the list of why the world needs a religion-free bible is, “The story of the Bible has value for all of humankind, regardless of your religious tradition or no religion at all.”
Duh.
Number 4 says, “The voice of the Bible deserves to be heard, unshackled from the repressive spin often imposed upon it.”
The Word is not religious, but it deserves to be heard, and is not being heard, and Mr Palmer is going to unleash it so it can be heard. Something that GOD OF THE UNIVERSE was unable to do. Make it heard I mean. So Mr Palmer will. But in a different version, stripped of the nasty bits.
You see how quickly this gets contradictory and complicated.
Number 7 says “In the hands of the people, the Bible can be an instrument of love, beauty, peace, acceptance and harmony in the world.”
Well for 2000 years, the completed bible has been in the hands of the people and has been an instrument of love, beauty, peace, acceptance and harmony. Where’s Mr Palmer been?
Wait for it, wait… now we get to it, Number 8 says,
“Humankind needs permission to walk away from the lie we learned about ourselves that we are bad, not good enough, unacceptable to God, and something is wrong with us.”
Oh, I get it, the bible is good until we get to the place were we read about ourselves.
“as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;” (Romans 3:10)
So in Mr Palmer’s view, the bible has value for all of humankind, is an instrument of peace and beauty, and “can be a profound inspiration for art in every form” (#10) … yet contains lies. Mr Palmer is here to straighten it all out.
See, the problem is that eternity in the heart thing. We see and know God, through the revelation of Himself in creation,
“For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.” (Romans 1:20)
The human spirit in its natural state wants to disobey all the time, our sinful nature writhing under the thumb of God, which is shown in His creation and in His word. Yet they reject the Light and stay in the darkness, ever seeking that completion and satisfaction that the world cannot bring.
“always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.” (2 Timothy 3:7).
This dichotomy of the unsaved human soul is not only seen in empty projects like Mr Palmer’s where he values the bible but not the word, wants its beauty without the authority, is shown this survey.
“Research Half of Adults Say Religious ‘Nones’ Are Bad for America”
“Nearly half of all American adults think it’s a bad thing that more people are not religious. Only 11% of them find it to be a good thing. You know what that means? Even some Nones think it’s a bad thing that more people are Nones.” (source)
So…the new cultural mantra is: “I’m not religious (too cool for that) but you ought to be” ?
At root is the unconscious but very present intuitive understanding that it is the Holy Spirit Who restrains us from being really bad.
It is understood by secular society that many religious people are moral, and they do good. It is recognized that they subscribe to a set of moral standards that guide and inform their choices as neighbors, community members, and global citizens. It is recognized that people who aren’t religious benefit from the boundaries within which the religious people operate. Without that imposed religious boundary, what we are really looking at is a frontier, a wild, wild west of behavior that is not only unpalatable, but dangerous. Like this:
A New York City man is under arrest for allegedly scooping up a toddler from the beach and running toward the water. The Daily News says Esteves allegedly picked up the child as his 18-year-old mother went for a swim. Police say the 2-year-old’s uncle ran after Esteves and the two briefly struggled until two police officers ran over and handcuffed Esteves. (source)
What on earth would make a man do a terrible and stupid thing like that, and to a baby no less?! Inexplicable and/or unexpected behavior makes people say, “Yes, having no religion may not be a good idea after all. Society is held together by its glue.”
In addition, what the ‘nones’ understand is that they know without knowing that they are enjoying common grace. Common grace is defined as:
Common Grace is the grace God gives to creation as a whole. In this universal non-salvific form of grace, God allows the sun to shine upon both the righteous and the unrighteous. God shows his goodness to all people when He feeds them, allows them to work, experience beauty, learn and have joy. It is also common grace that “restrains” the wrath of God until a later time.
The Restrainer under common grace can be seen as working like in this photo of a trust fall- Holy Spirit holds the unsaved up from falling into the total sin and depravity that is really in us. He does this by enabling His believers to witness to the truth from His word- a word only believers can understand. That, and their response to common grace prevents them from sliding fully into the pit of depravity that is in each of us.
When the rapture happens prior to the Tribulation, the Restrainer will cease His restraining ministry.
“And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way.” (2 Thessalonians 2:6-7)
Once the Restrainer is removed, their foot shall slide in due time
“Vengeance is mine, and recompense, for the time when their foot shall slip; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and their doom comes swiftly.” (Deuteronomy 32:35)
The trust fall of above becomes this below:
Surprise! We are bad! We do need Jesus! Wrath is real! The feeling that too many ‘nones‘ was a bad idea was correct! Of course the mistake they make is in thinking that all religions are equally valid and equally effective in restraining immoral, unethical, and criminal behavior. The “I don’t need religion” people think that common grace just exists from nowhere and is delivered to earth without a sovereign, sort of like a mysteriously appearing force we’re lucky to have around. However, it is only the Holy Spirit who restrains, and when the time comes, He will not do that anymore.
Mr Palmer has stated, “The voice of the Bible deserves to be heard, unshackled from the repressive spin often imposed upon it.” I agree. The voice of God as heard by the writers of holy writ put down what they heard and that Voice is worthy to be obeyed. He has made Himself known through His son, the Word.
When it is the time, God will tell the Spirit to unshackle man’s desires. The common grace they had benefited from by the witness of His saved people will be gone. Even the beauty of the creation they enjoyed seeing Him in will be gone, steadily and increasingly dismantled by His purposeful and orderly UNcreation during the Tribulation. Mr Palmer wants things unshackled, he will get it. Man’s depraved sinfulness will be unleashed upon the world.
The religion-free bible won’t help them, then.
“You will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come.” (John 7:34)
“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord GOD, “when I will send a famine on the land— not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD.” (Amos 8:11)
What Mr Palmer and the followers of a religion-free religion will discover all too unfortunately, is that where he says, “Humankind needs permission to walk away from the lie we learned about ourselves that we are bad, not good enough, unacceptable to God, and something is wrong with us” is totally and the exact opposite of the truth. As the verse below shows, a hostile search for the Lord will be denied, but a humble appeal as a sinner will yield results. I pray that such a a search begins now, on this side of the Tribulation, a soon to be enacted event which will be the worst time on earth ever.
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| Dore: The Pharisee And The Publican |
The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:11-14)
