Having Jude in our lives has helped Jessica and me to remember what is most important thing in our lives. That is, we consider Faith to be paramount in our lives, and wish to share it whenever we have the chance. If you were at our wedding, I took the opportunity of having nearly 200 of the people we love the most as a captive audience and shared a little about what we believe about God and why. It is difficult to share, as our post-modern culture says that there is no truth and we can believe whatever we want, so people don’t want to hear what we have to say. Sharing with family is heart-wrenchingly difficult, as we want the best for the people we love, but we also want to maintain strong relationships. For Jesus said:
Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division; for from now on five {members} in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
-Luke 12:51-53 NASB
So if you are family, we want so much for you to read this and understand. We love you dearly, and want to spend more than just our temporal lives with you, we wish for you to join us in Eternal life as well. So, what is it that we believe? The inerrancy and infalability of the Bible, as God’s inspired word. Which teaches:
The Law
The Ten Commandments – God’s Law – was given to us so as to show us the condition we are in and the status of our relationship with God. We have all violated the commandments, as we are all fallen beings prone to do evil.
- I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other Gods before me – We all put other gods before the True God. Be it self, money, television, work, or even government. Our affections need to be for God first.
- You shall not create for yourself a graven image – We often create our own gods, even if we don’t go to the trouble of carving them out of wood or stone. When we rely on self, we become a god unto ourselves. When we worship the money in our bank accounts, it becomes an idol.
- You shall not take the Lord’s name in vain – Who of us can say we have never used God’s name in place of a cuss word to express disgust? If you hit your thumb with a hammer in the process of driving a nail and shout “G-d D—it”, you take the name the God who gave you life and reduce it to that which is synonymous with “dung”. The Lord will not hold him blameless who takes His name in vain.
- Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it Holy – Do you take one day in seven to worship the Lord who gave you life?
- Honor your Mother and Father – Is there a child who has ever lived who has never dishonored his parents?
- Do not Kill – Jesus said that to hate someone is to be guilty of murder – You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty {enough to go} into the fiery hell. – Matthew 5:21-22
- Do not Commit Adultery – You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY’; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. – Matthew 5:27-28. Who of us can say that we have never looked with lust?
- Do not Steal – Value is irrelevant. A pen, a paper clip, internet music, our employer’s time – we have all stolen something.
- Do not Lie – Who of us has never lied? “But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part {will be} in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. Revelation 21:8
- Do not Covet – Have you ever desired something that didn’t belong to you? That new car, the lottery jackpot, your neighbor’s hot-tub. Of all the commandments, this is the most difficult for me, and for most people – especially in a materialistic culture like we have, where Madison Avenue makes sure that we are coveting something.
The Consequence
I am guilty of violating every one of the Laws given above, in essence or in deed. The consequence of violating the Law is what the Bible calls “the second death”, or commonly known as Hell. God being perfect and righteous must judge sin (which is violation of the Law). To fail to judge sin would make him corrupt, just like if a human judge failed to convict a guilty man of a heinous crime he too would be corrupt. Because violation of God’s law is a crime against an infinite being, He must carry out an infinite penalty. Because we are finite beings, we cannot pay an infinite price, and so Hell is the only logical conclusion.
Our Reaction
Such an infinite price consumes us with fear. And so we do whatever we can to avoid the unavoidable.
We attempt to balance our good deeds with our bad. Such an attempt at bribery is vapid. Much like a convicted murderer cannot go free when presenting the judge with all of his good deeds and volunteerism, God cannot set us free based on doing right. With crime comes punishment.
We immerse ourselves in piousness. Going to church every Sunday, giving to charity, leading youth ministries, and reading our Bible are all acts of worship, but they cannot be used to bribe God into Heaven.
We deny God’s existence. The last desperate act of a sinner is to deny the inevitable. If God does not exist, he cannot send us to Hell. However, denying the existence of trucks will not keep us from getting run over if we lie on the freeway. Our consciences, as well as Creation itself, testify that God is, and that He is just.
The Good News
The word “Gospel” means “good news,” and it is good news indeed. Despite our condition and our fate, there is a way out. Because God loves us, and doesn’t want any to perish, but all to come to everlasting life, He did what we cannot. He became a man, in the person of Jesus Christ, lived a perfect life, and died on the cross to pay the price for our sins. We committed the crime, and Jesus paid our fine. The judge of the Universe passed sentence, but then stepped down from the bench, got out his checkbook, and paid the fine we deserved. His mercy prevailed, but His justice was also carried out.
What we must do
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, {it is} the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
-Ephesians 2:8-9
We are called to repent, which means to turn from our sins and stop sinning. We are also called to put our faith in Christ. Trust Him the same way you would trust a parachute if you had to jump from an airplane.
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
– John 3:16-18
We love you all, and we pray that we will be with you forever!
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