Moral Law Is Written Upon The Heart--This Cannot Be Denied

I will bless the LORD

who has given me counsel;

My heart also instructs me

in the night seasons. 

I have set the LORD 

always before me; 

Because He is at my right hand

I shall not be moved.

Therefore my heart is glad,

and my glory rejoices;

My flesh also will

rest in hope.

Psalm 16:7-9

     The headline to this blog may cause a person who wishes to object to the statement that this moral law written on the heart cannot be denied; to object. Oh! A person can deny that fact, but not with impunity. Avoid the moral law and there will be interposed upon you that which you wish not to happen. Lie, cheat, steal, murder, etc.; do any of these things and see whether or not there will be a price to pay, We all know the answer: there will be a price to pay. There is no glory or rejoicing when the moral law, a law that is imbued in our constitution is rejected. Truth is truth! Yet, there are different kinds of necessary truths.  There are laws so unthinkable that are absolutely true such as every effect must have a cause, and that a part of a given thing is less than the whole.  These propositions are such that the opposite cannot have any meaning. Take a man who says that something is nothing. He expresses no thought for he denies what he has affirmed, he says nothing.

     Truths that concern material or external things have a power of themselves that is different from the power that constrains the mind. Can you deny that you have a body? Can you rationally deny that you have a will? There is equality in both propositions but they are of different kinds and affect the mind differently. 

     Therefore, to further this discussion of the necessary truths we find that there are truths which cannot be denied without doing harm to the laws of our nature. If we do choose to deny those truths we have done nothing more than forced that denial and that denial can only be temporary. Why? Because the laws of our nature will sooner or later assert themselves and constrain the opposite belief. Let us use an example to demonstrate this fact. A pendulum when at rest hangs perpendicular to the floor but by means of extraneous force for a time it will swing away from that perpendicular position, but as soon as the extraneous force is removed it once again hangs perpendicular to the floor. It is the nature within the pendulum that causes it to return to its natural position. Using the illustration from the beginning of this blog that a person can deny the fact of necessary truth but only as long as there are extraneous force(s) that cause that belief but as soon as that external force is removed the mind reverts  to its original state. If a man has an injury that causes his hand to become senseless and lose the sense of touch does not mean in any sense that the hand is not a great sensor of touch, a sensory organ. Therefore, a man may possibly become so degraded in his moral nature by vice or by a false philosophy as to have its testimony for the existence of God effectively silenced. This does not remove and eliminate and prove the opposite of what the actual testimony is; beside this insensibility cannot last. Why? Because whatever rouses the moral nature in man, such as, suffering, or the approach of death, will banish that unbelief in a moment. During war many men move from skepticism to faith. We often refer to that as "foxhole conversion" a conversion that is so instantaneous, in a moment of time that there was nothing of a process to bring that individual to have that instant "foxhole conversion." There is then a twofold issue for as the man has a supposed irreconcilable skepticism there is present within him a state of consciousness that is opposite, that exists, a state that is not founded on a process of the mind. We can find this fact in all classes of men, therefore it cannot be said to affect just the simple for it affects all in the same manner. 

     Simple put, Scripture and experience contains moral law, this we know without be educated to that fact. It is written on our hears indelibly; we all are familiar with indelible ink: it is permanent. The moral law is constituted in our nature and implies that there be a lawgiver. If there be a lawgiver then that lawgiver must be necessity be not only the one from which the law emanates, but is the enforcer of that law. This being true man cannot, as moral creatures, deny the existence of a Being on whom they are dependent and responsible to for their character and their conduct. From this fact or sense then man, it must be admitted, has the knowledge of God innate and intuitive. Men do not need to be taught that there is a God, further they do not need to be taught that there is sin. 

     But, men are ignorant of their own nature and to the extent that sin has corrupted that nature, the pendulum has swung from perpendicular to an unnatural angle. Men are unaware of its existence naturally and allow other external forces to reign in their minds and deforming their character and conduct. This is true until they are enlightened by the Word of God and by being enabled by the Spirit of God. Therefore, it must be stated that men need to be educated and given instruction so that they may have adequate knowledge of the nature of God and their relations to Him. 

          "For 'whoever calls on the name of he LORD shall be saved.' How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?....So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:13-14;16). We are the preachers, not just the pastor, we have been commanded by our Savior to make disciples. Therefore it is our responsibility to be the ambassadors who carry the message of reconciliation: (2 Corinthians 5:17-21).

Awake, Christ will give you light.

Richard L. Crumb

The Possibility For A Belief In A God

For who makes you

differ from another?

And what do you have 

that you did not receive? 

Now if you indeed receive it,

why do you boast

as if you had not 

received it?

1 Corinthians 4:7

     Many people will not, if never, agree that there is a God and that they have been so constituted that they are without excuse if they do not admit in a God. They boast of their belief, such as Atheistic people often do, that it is impossible for a God to exist. They ignore what is true of themselves, that God so constituted man so that they do know of Him and have no excuse no matter if they avoid to admit that it is possible for Him to exist and be in their lives. This begs a question: If we say that the belief in God is universal among men, is it also a necessary belief? Furthermore, is it impossible for the mind to dispossess itself of the conviction that there is a God?  If it is possible to dispose what the mind may consider to be true, then there is no necessity for anyone to believe or be held responsible for their unbelief in a God. Yet for a truth to be universal it then holds true that there is a necessity involved in knowing that truth., inasmuch as it is part and parcel of universal knowledge. How does a person account satisfactorily for the universal belief in the existence of God? The only way possible is that such belief is founded upon the very nature or our constitution. This ignorance or disbelief is not the final answer for there are criteria that may be used of intuitive truths, that which is being considered, and they are generally distinguished and in some ways are distinct. 

     Let us begin by asking: "Is it possible for a sane man to disbelieve in the existence of God?  So often this question is answered in the negative and objected that the facts proved otherwise. Yet, man will not object to the intuitive truth that two plus two equals four. This cannot be denied by any sane person, although many do reject intuitive truths of a different nature and can be found to exist in the minds of Atheists. Are all intuitive truths the same? No, there are different kinds of necessary truths and these differences understood will aid in the understanding and knowledge that man is without excuse even if he denies the necessity of the intuitive truth that God exists and that knowledge is part and parcel of their constitution. 

     Because of the nature of this discussion I will stop at this point and continue in the next blog with the answers as this is somewhat lengthy and delves deep into this subject and must be meditated upon in small consistent doses. Allow this to conclude today's blog: "But as it is written: 'Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man those thing which God has prepared for those who love Him. But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God" (1 Corinthians 2:9-10)

May the Grace of God be With You

Richard L. Crumb

Addressing Objections To the Fact Of The Knowledge Is Universal

Look, I go foreard,

but He is not there,

and backwards, but I cannot '

perceive Him;...

But He knows the way

that I take;

When He has tested me,

I shall come forth as gold...

but He is unique, 

and who can make Him change? 

And whatever His soul desires,

that He does.

Job 23:8,10,13

     There are those who would stop as say, "I go forward but He is not there." There are those who cajole themselves with the thought that they are unique and there is no room for God. It is there belief that their constitution does not include the knowledge of God. Further, they will not admit that the knowledge of God is universal. Job did not agree that God could not be known, only that he is not always seen by the mind and He seems far off, yet inside himself in the very recesses of his intuitive knowledge lies the truth; God is there and God is active, God is changing people enabling His purpose to be fulfilled. Our view is to to see the future, so end that is yet to occur and due to the timeline that the end is yet afar and has not occurred men object, but God's end is determined and it is not where we place our sights, we are to live in the "now" for God works with men in the "now." If we, as many men do, see only, and look for only, the end, then they are foolish and easily become dismayed. Objections come from those who are missing the present and seeing the present as the final end. In fact, when people traveled into other parts of the world, such as missionaries have done they report that there are tribes existing that are so degraded in their evil ways that the knowledge of God could not be found in them. In answer to that objection is that for a tribe(s) to have no appearance of the knowledge of God is far from being conclusive, conclusive for the whole of man. An example would be that if a person were to come across a tribe of idiots there can be no reasonable  ground to prove that this was not their nature. In the world today there is much abortion and desire for one to live as they please giving some credence that there is missing in those persons parental love, but this alone does not prove that parental love in not one of the instincts of humanity. A problem that occurs is that the reporter has not had sufficient time to become acquainted with the people so as to be aware of their internal  and intellectual and moral condition. Another problem is that Christians have given to the word "God" such an exalted meaning(s) and to the Word of God, that when they see no evidence of the presence of God and no presence of the their exalted conception of God and His Word that they come to the conclusion, wrongly so, that there is no knowledge of God. This would be a forgone conclusion in error for if the people do show a sense of right and wrong, have responsibility for character and conduct, then it cannot be said that they do not have a knowledge of God, and His Being. 

      How many times have you come across people who seem to have no knowledge of God? They live as they please without reference to God. Even drug addicts who seem to have abandon all knowledge of God do things that have morality and some character responsibility. In fact those who say that there is no God live by the very Law that they propose does not exist. So they murder? Some do, but not all. Do they steal? Some do, but not all.So they show caring and love, at least to some? Yes, but not all do. Yet it must be said that all men do live under the Law as established in the Bible. So they are without excuse for they intuitively have the knowledge of God even if they do not desire to admit such to be the case. 


     An objection that has been raised by some is that of those who are deaf and dumb. Their objection is that those who are so afflicted have not received instruction as to the idea of God therefore they do not have the knowledge of God. Do they have a sense of responsibility? Yes, some do, some have limited ability to act with responsibility but to conclude that this is evidence that there is are people without the knowledge of God is fallacious because there is no evidence to the fact that they do not have this knowledge of God, only that they are not acting in accordance with this knowledge as do sinners who will not recognize within themselves that God does exist and is known by them intuitively. All men have the idea of God. All responsibility however displayed is to be outside of self, even against one's wishes, because this idea, this responsibility is due to the invisible God, this Higher Being that is higher than man and has so constituted man so that they are without excuse to know Him. 


     The next question that must be addressed then, is whether or not a belief in God is necessary. This is the next blog.


Blessed is the Lord God of
     Israel,
For He has visited and
     redeemed His people,
and raised up a horn of
     salvation for us
In the house of His servant
     David,....
That we should be saved from
     our enemies
and from the hand of all
    who hate us,
                       Luke 1:68-69,71
May God Guide Your Feet


Richard L. Crumb

The Knowledge of God is Universal

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,...

Romans 1::20-21a

     The opening Scripture is one to consider as this blog will undertake that there is no excuse that can be given that denies that man can by means of his constitutionality know that there is a God. It is true that God is revealed to man by external means, i.e., trees, mountains, clouds, etc. but to be able to relate those external evidences to God cannot come from just experiencing those externals.  As has been discussed that there are truths that are intuitive, in other words no evidence is necessary for them to be true. Testimony may aid in our understanding but to understand a truth that has no visible revelation is to judge it as true from our constitution that recognizes it to be true. We cannot see God, we know Him propositional, and the evidence points to that propositional God adding to the fact there there is a greater Being that we call God. We know this intuitively just as we know that there can be no effect without a cause. We know it to be true because it is true. To say that anything "is" without a cause is illogical to any sentient person. So, then as proof of this Doctrine that the knowledge of God is universal I shall give references of testimony to aid our understanding. 

     The first reference is the Bible itself as it asserts that the knowledge of God is universal. When a person reads the Bible they will find that this reference is both implied directly and by necessity. The Apostle Paul in writing to the Romans asserts that the heathen are without limitation, in other words, they have the knowledge of God therefore making their impiety and immorality inexcusable, (Romans 1:19-21).  The Bible addresses men as being sinners, everywhere and calls upon them to repent. If one is disobedient and does not repent they are threatened with everlasting punishment and if they do repent they are promised everlasting life. So what, you may state: yet, the Bible states these things without a preliminary demonstration that there is a God, for it assumes that all men have the knowledge of God. Further it assumes that all men are subjects to God's moral government. Some may cavil at these points and give reference that the Bible does say in places that men know God and that they are without God, but to not examine the context in which those statement appear is to miss out the reason for the Bible to make those statements. Remember, when doing a Bible exegesis it is always, context, context, context. Those statements that man either knows there is a God and that they have a knowledge of God is in reference to the saving knowledge of God and they are without His favor and do not belong to His children and are not partakers of His blessedness to those whose God is the Lord. The Bible takes their lives apart from Him, their immorality, etc. to assert that even the most degraded of persons have the guilt and are exposed to the divine judgement of God. The Bible takes for granted that the knowledge of God is universal, and that it is written on the hearts of every man.

     To say that every man as the knowledge of God on their hearts can be shown to be true and apparent. First, the Bible does teach that every man shall be judged by the revelation as found in the Bible and that those who have no externally revealed law shall be judged by that law that is written on their hearts. Do the heathen have that law? Yes, for they do the things of the law by their nature, they do the things that are prescribed by the law, this they do by means of their conscience. Condemnation is applied to man when he does not do what the law requires even though the man does not recognize or admit to such a law. Man ins accountable to God as to how he applies that law in his life. We know this fact, that every man carries within himself, in his very constitution that he is a moral agent, this knowledge, not given by means of any external evidence, is the knowledge of God who has written in their hearts, given to them in their constitution. This fact of man is universal that it can only be ascribed to God.

     This universality of the knowledge of God can be found historically. all a persons can find this fact for themselves that man has this religious element in their nature and that knowledge is to be found rational and one to be found socially. Wherever man has existed, in all times, there is to be found that man has some form of religion. The idea of God is to be found in all languages. Language is the product of and the revelation of, the human consciousness, therefore if all languages have the idea of God, and they do, then this proves that the idea of God, in some form, belongs to every human being.

Blessed are those whose

     lawless deeds are forgiven,

and whose sins are covered;

     Blessed is the man to whom

the LORD shall not impute

     sin.

                             Romans 4:7-8

Peace to You

Richard L. Crumb

Our Account Of A Higher Being Exists In Our Minds

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.

Romans 1:18-19

      To give clarification in regards to the previous blogs on the Sovereignty of God we must ask questions, i.e., is the existence of God an intuitive truth? Is this truth given in our very constitution of our nature? Can our very nature assent and have revealed these truths and is such so that we can do nothing less than to assent to its truth? Is it universal, and necessary? Speaking of truth as being universal it must be noted that what is being implied here is that the universality is applied in this case only to those truths which have their foundation or evidence in the constitution of our nature. The external world, if it be true that ignorance be universal, error may be universal. An example: there was a time when men believed that the sun revolves around the earth; but because it was universal that belief was no evidence of its truth.

     When it is asked as to whether or not the existence of God is an intuitive truth what is being actually asked is the belief in His existence an intuitive truth that is universal and necessary? Now, if it be true that all men do believe there is a God, and that no man can possible disbelieve His existence, then His existence is an intuitive truth. Therefore, it is given in our constitution of our nature making is so that no man can fail to know and to acknowledge that there is a God.

     This is not a new thinking on the part of man for it has been the thinking from ages past. It was the common opinion as Cicero in 45 B.C. aptly describes in DE NATURA DEORUM ACADExMICA book 1, sec. 17: ...their (God(s) my interjection) existence is therefore a necessary inference, since we possess an instinctive or rather an innate concept of them ;

esse deos, quoniam insitas

eorum vel potius innatas cognitiones habemus

Tertullian (c. 160 - 225):
states that: "the heather of his day, the common people had a more correct idea of God than the philosophers. John Calvin in his Institute of Religion book 1, chpt. 3, sect 3 states: 
3. All men of sound Judgment will therefore hold, that a sense of Deity is indelibly engraven on the human heart. And that this belief is naturally engendered in all, and thoroughly fixed as it were 45in our very bones, is strikingly attested by the contumacy of the wicked, who, though they struggle furiously, are unable to extricate themselves from the fear of God. (italics mine).

The tendency in our modern days is to render the existence of God is purely a matter of intuition and this then leads a person to disparage any argument in proof of it. Yet, it is to be found that this tendency does not in any way justify the denial of a truth, this truth that is so important as that God has not left mankind without a knowledge of Himself and His existence, further, His authority. 

 

     Like so many important terms or words god is used in a very wide sense. For the Christian the sense is that God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, an immutable being, his wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. No human mind has the power of itself to attain such ideas, so sublime intuitively or discursively, except it be under the divine light of supernatural revelation. The philosophers will give dignity, to motion, force, or some vague idea of the infinite, and use the name God to describe those ideas. But, in neither of these cases is the sense of the word so used and to be said to be innate, or a matter of intuition. We must understand the fact that in the general sense of a Being is to be found on whom we are dependent and to whom we are responsible, and that idea is asserted to exist universally, and of necessity, in every human mind. We we discern God in this manner we can only assert that God is a Person, that He possesses moral attributes, and acts as our moral governor. All that is being stated is that what is maintained is that this sense of dependence and accountability to a being higher than themselves exists in the minds of all men. 

Let the peoples praise You,

     O God:

let all the peoples praise You.

     Oh, let the nations be glad

and sing for joy!

     For You shall judge the people

righteously,

     And govern the nations on

earth.

                      Psalm 67:3-4

God be Merciful to Us

Richard L. Crumb

The Sovereignty of God Is Not Deism

Grace to you and

peace fro God our Father

and the 

Lord Jesus Christ. 

Blessed be the God 

and Father of mercies

and God of all comfort,

who comforts us in all  

our tribulation, 

that we may be able to comfort

those who are in truouble,

with the comfort

with which we ourselves

are comforted

by God.

2 Corinthians 1:2-4

     In times of tragedy some will lose their belief in a Sovereign God. A traumatic experience erodes their faith and leaves them without God. The question: "why did this happen, or why did God allow this to happen" enters into the equation and often leads a person into Deism. Yes, they may believe there is a God but God is far off and is disinterested in the day to day affairs of man. Others will take the dark road that leads them to a belief that a God does not exist, especially the God of the Bible who is declared to be loving and kind. These questions are understandable and enter the minds of those who have not allowed God to be Sovereign. As was written about in earlier blogs on faith, a situation as allowed their faith has become weaken by these events, their trust has flown into the ether by winds of distrust and disbelief. In the dark times of life is when we make a serious decision, to either run to God or run away from God. Paul wrote this for all who read his letter: Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love to him" (2 Corinthians 2:8).

     God is Sovereign and present in our lives, for He has not made us, constituted us in such a way as to know Him, then to leave is to our desperate lives, a life of despair, a life without God's intervention. It is in times of trouble that we can grow in the knowledge of God, allowing that innateness of our constitution to mature. This can become real in our lives if we have an eternal view, not just this temporal view of life. It we allow God to be Sovereign in our lives trusting that He as a Good God does nothing that is not within His purpose. It was God the Father who allowed Jesus Christ the only begotten Son of God to suffer, be humiliated, and die a horrible death by being nailed to a cross, having a spear driven into His side. As unthinkable as that may be, God allowed such to happen in order to save His children, all that He has and will enable and be drawn to Him. God knows what is to happen and what may seem to be inhumane is in order to accomplish His purpose and that purpose is everlasting life for those who are His and everlasting death to all who are not His. You may cavil at such thinking, but you are not God: The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do as the words of this law" (Deuteronomy 29:29). 

     Our institutional perception is capable of growing, that  is our perception that God exists and is our loving Father and who is present in our lives every moment. Yes it is is true that in one man to another, that person might have far more acuteness but as with the blind who has an acute sense of feeling and touch, is also true of our intellect, it may grow in acuteness. Our intellect can mature. It is this, that in our moral and and religious nature, when we purify and exalt that nature the more clear the vision and the more our intuitions are capable to mature our faith in God. This allows us to rely on Him during times of distress and trauma. We may not have full understanding yet when we see that something is true without intervention of proof, we know that it is true, we see it intuitively. 

     We must not allow the feelings of another person to override our feelings and knowledge for a truth may be self-evident to one mind, it does not follow that it must be true in all minds. Remember this that there is a class of truths that are so plain and clear that they never fail to reveal themselves to the human mind, therefore the mind cannot refuse to assent to those truths. These axioms are to be accepted as truths and are to be assumed in all reasoning. This being true then to deny them is to render all faith and all knowledge to be impossible, that is to deny the universality and knowledge to be impossible. It is what we believe, and what all men must believe, is to be assumed as undeniable true. If a truth is to be believed then is must not, nor can it be by any man called into question. If it be a matter of necessity, a necessary belief, it must be accepted by all who possess the nature out of the constitution of which the necessity arises.

     The next blogs then will give us the proof that the knowledge of God is innate and that the existence of God is an intuitive truth.

God is wise in heart and might in strength.

Richard L. Crumb

God Has Appointed And Created Our Constitution

Consider the work of God;

For who can make straight 

what He has made crooked?

In the day of prosperity,

be joyful,

But in the day of adversity

consider;

Surely God has appointed
the one as well as the other,

so that man can find out

nothing that will come after him.

Ecclesiastes 7:13-14

     Nothing in this world occurs without being preordained, decreed by God. If God did not decree something to be or to happen then it would not be, nor would it happen. Nothing occurs or is by chance, man does not constitute what he is or how God has created him to be. You may cavil at this statement but cavil all you want let us look at this innateness of man. There are intuitions of the intellect. This you know to be true for there are certain truths which the mind perceives to be true immediately and without testimony. I have spoken of this previously but I want you to wrap your mind around these truths. For instance, geometry needs no external proof of its axioms. No one would deny that a part is less than the whole. Try and argue differently about the fact that the shortest distance between two points in a straight line. An intuitive truth is to be found in this: nothing cannot be a cause for every effect must have a cause. I know that evolutionist will disagree for they hold to a premise that the "original" something had to always exist and has no cause. Yet, in the same breath will state that everything formed from the "something" has its effect due to cause. Only they are not in agreement as to the "cause." This we do know; this conviction as stated above is not founded upon experience. Why? Because experience is by necessity limited. This conviction is not founded so as every effect which we have or that which other men have seen has had a cause; but that in the nature of things there can be no effect without an adequate cause. 

     Upon examination and illumination of this truth of conviction that it is innate truth, it is not because a child is born with it so that it is included in its infant consciousness, nor because the abstract principle is laid up in the mind, but simply because such is the nature of the mind. The mind is so constituted that it cannot but see these things to be true. This conviction of the truth of its innateness is not something added to a person, rather it is what the person is as is the sense of touch for we can have cognizance of these objects as soon as they are touched or presented to us, so then we are born with the intellectual faculty of perceiving these primary truths as soon as the are presented. 

     Moral truths cannot be said to be added due to experience or be some external necessity. The mind recognizes these truths to be true. All ethnic groups in this world recognize and have, at least some form, of morality, virtue, and the ability to recognize the essential distinction between right and wrong. Furthermore, they recognize and implement responsibility for character and conduct, that sin deserves punishment. No man needs to be taught them for they are so constituted in the nature of man and decreed by God to be true, and that which God created in man. No person goes and seeks to find these truths for they are within the man, it is their nature. 

     This fact that we are so constituted so as to know the truth that it is innate, intuitive causes some to cajole that they should be condemned by God for did He not make "me" this way? A person may complain about this fact, but God has His purpose for all His decrees and we are not a god, in fact we are not God. Try as you may to understand all of God's workings and you will only be frustrated for you are reaching further into things that God has not revealed: "The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law" (Deuteronomy 29:29). Or responsibility is to take what we do know of God and use it in our lives to live for Him, to live for our fellowman, and as the preacher so often states: "Be obedient and leave the consequences to God." It is by allowing the law of God to be alive and active in our lives that we find our selves and giving to us the ability to do good, and live according to that which we have been so constituted. We are responsible to live in such a way that we do not attempt to override what we are, that which we were created to be, a child of God, enabled by God, and drawn to Him by His very own act of drawing people to Him. How do we know that we are a child of God? It may by found in those facts that we desire to please Him in every way, we communicate in prayer by faith that God hears and acts upon our prayers. We read His Word, His very Word so given to man so that in it can be found His revelation about Himself and how He deals with man, what the end shall be for man. We become hungry for God, to know Him, to love Him, to serve Him. We do not do this outside of what God has revealed. What has He revealed in this manner? It is His law. There are those who teach and preach that the Old Law was destroyed by the death and resurrection of Jesus. This is not true! The requirements of the law, i.e., bringing a sheep to be slaughtered for their sins, etc. is no longer applicable, but the Law, those ten commandments are still in effect.  Jesus summarized the law when He said that the Law could be summed up: "Jesus said to him, "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it; You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets" (Matthew 22:37-40). We innately know that there is God, some may ignore this innateness, but even though misused, or misunderstood, the fact remains, we know that they is a God and that fact is not derived by any experience. All things have a cause, we are the effect of that cause, and that cause is God. 

My little children,

     let us not love

in word or in tongue,

    but in deed and in truth.

                       1 John 3:18

Keep His Commandments and Live in Him

Richard L. Crumb

The Sovereign God Constitutes Us And Gave Us Our Nature

 For You formed 

my inward parts;

You covered me

in my mother's womb.

I will praise You,

for I am fearfully

and wonderfully made,

marvelous are Your works,

and that my soul knows

very well.

Psalm 139:13-14

    In this post-modern culture where truth is individual, that each can and may have their own truth about anything, and no one has the right to deny your truth. This cultural ideology does not answer the question about truth because there is no way under this dispensation or economy of thought that secures a pure definition of truth. How can anyone truly state that they, or you have truth if the definition is so obscure and not able to afford certainty? To say that you have truth is not based upon experience for the base of that supposition, rather it is from a place unknown by conscience, it is derived innately. That ability to become conscious in regards to truth is brought into existence solely by your nature and you have no control over your original nature that was present in you at your birth. You may modify your original nature but the core nature of you does not change although it may relinquish it power by means of a person apprehending and acting upon a new and overriding cultural nature. Therefore, those original truths are intuitive and belong to several departments of the senses, the understanding, and our moral nature. Everything that we perceive as true are derived from intuition and our sense perceptions, they are intuitively understood to be true. 

     An example of the above supposition that our sense perceptions are intuitive, I shall use this fact: when our senses are objectively apprehended in immediacy we have an irresistible conviction of their reality and truth. We may perceive this in error and draw erroneous conclusions from our sensations, but as far as our sensations go, they tell us the truth. Further, drawing an illustration from most people's everyday life; we feel pain in our leg and draw the conclusion that there is something wrong in the leg, but the pain originated from the muscles attached to the spine and radiated to the leg. We have erroneously concluded that the leg had a problem and pain was the result of the problem in the leg, but in reality the problem was much higher in the body; the back. Here is intuitive truth, we know that it is pain. When we see an object we may make wrong conclusions about it's nature, but we know we see it and that what we see is the cause of the sensation which we experience. Why are these intuitions? Because they are immediately perceived as true. This conviction that attends to our sensations does not come by way of instruction, experience, etc., but due to our constitution, our nature. A better question at this point is how was our nature so construed? 

      At first reading the above statements may seem obscure, somewhat understood, yet, hard to grasp, and you may wonder what does this have to do with God, and us? If we are to say and believe that man is without excuse before God we must understand innateness and its relation to God. If we do not have a nature that is innate, then all things are known by such as experience and that experience becomes our teacher. Experience is just that experience as shown above if we are experiencing pain we may draw wrong conclusion about the pain, but how do we know pain? Who taught us that pain is pain, that it hurts. How did the mind come to know, as do even newborns; pain? We say that God exists and we point to objects that seem to reveal God but how did we come to any conclusion by experience that a God may exist? Some will quickly point out that we were taught so we know: a baby is not taught to know certain things and even in that young age cannot articulate what they know; they still know.  Therefore in the next blog I will discuss the intuitions of the intellect, that which is known without the aid of testimony. What has been learned so far is that we have a nature, a nature that is to be found in all human beings, it is there, we did not put it there, we did not in any way apprehend that nature; it came as part of our constitution.

My frame was not hidden

     from You,

when I was made in secret,

    and skillfully wrought in the 

lowest parts of the earth.

Your eyes saw mys substace,

    being yet unformed.

And in Your book they all

    were written,

the days fashioned for me,

     when as yet thee were none 

 of them. 

                       Psalm 139:15-16

We are His Servants

Richard L. Crumb   

The Knowledged of God Is Innate

The lips of the righteous know

what is acceptable,

But the mouth of the wicked

what is perverse.

Proverbs 10:32

     As the above Scripture so states, both the righteous and the wicked have knowledge. It is how that knowledge is applied in one's life. God is the Sovereign judge and will judge both the righteous and the wicked: "I know that whatever God does, it shall be forever, nothing can be added to it, and nothing taken from it. God does it, that men should fear before Him. That which is has already been, and what is to be has already been; and God requires an account of the past" (Ecclesiastes 3:14-15).  God knows the end from the beginning, He knows all things, yet He will require of us that which we have done in this life. No one is without the knowledge of God, as has been stated, some refuse to acknowledge that there is a God. So, is it true that all men have the knowledge of God and that knowledge is innate, therefore they are without excuse? 

     Before we begin we must understand the term, innate and what is meant by innate knowledge. Innate knowledge is that which is due to our constitution, as sentient, rational, and moral beings. What does that exactly mean? It is not founded upon experience or obtained by ab extra instruction, or acquired by a process of research and reasoning. Just to make clarity, constitution refers to our physical body, our makeup and or composition, our psychological character. 

     How do we know that there is such knowledge? It cannot be doubted that we are so constituted that we can see certain things to be true immediately in their own light. They need no proof. There is no need to be taught that those things we perceive to true are true. We call these immediate perceptions: intuitions, primary truths, laws of belief, innate knowledge, or ideas. This is important, no matter what it is called, we must recognize what is meant by those terms. Are we born with such knowledge so as it to be applicable to our conscious exercise of the Mind. No! The Doctrine of innate knowledge does not imply such to intuitive truths. How can that be? Knowledge is a form is to be found in state of intelligence, and intelligence is a state of consciousness, therefore, knowledge, that is in the sense of acting bust be a matter of consciousness and cannot be innate. A baby has no conscious knowledge of the existence of God. Sometimes the word is used passively, that is the action of the verb is expressed passively even though written as present, i.e., "The letter was written yesterday." You see, a man knows what lies dormant in his mind and most of our knowledge is in that state. An example, all the facts of history are stored in the memory and are out of the domain of consciousness until we recall or turn our minds to them. Therefore in is not inconceivable that we come into this world with stored primary truths which lie dormant in the mind until they are awakened by some occasion. But this  is not what is meant by innate knowledge. The word innate only indicates the source of that knowledge. So, what is that source? It is our nature, that which we are born with. The doctrine of innate knowledge does imply that the mind is born with ideas, such as patterns, or notions, such as creations of our imaginations. They, innate knowledge, is not formed by nature with abstract ideas, or principles, or general truths. All that is meant is that the mind is so constituted that it perceives certain things to be true without proof and without instruction. 

     This is a bit heavy, somewhat hard to grasp so I will take it slowly, and stop here and continue tomorrow. This beginning may at first be difficult by will be the ground for the argument that men are without excuse and that the knowledge of God is innate. It is a fact that God is Sovereign and that He has equipped men in such a way that they can know Him even though He is unseen. We have studied faith, saving faith, and that is what this Sovereign God gave freely to some and not to others, and this by His own economy, and dispensation. We find it hard to understand, but those who have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit, and the gift of grace, saving grace, will innately know that there is a God, who is supreme and can be known as He has revealed Himself. We do not judge God as to His manner operating in this world for God is Good, and has all knowledge and has determined to save some people, not because He needed to save people, rather that from His love and mercy He does not destroy sinners but calls some, draws them to Him and enables them to know Him and by our innate constitution we are able to know Him and believe upon Him and His Son Jesus Christ, and that our sins have been paid for by the death and resurrection of Christ, that we can place our faith. As we come to know what God has revealed to His Children our faith will mature and grow, and upon that last Great Day, we will see Him as He is and we will be as He is, this is all God. Therefore, we must come to acknowledge Him and know Him and this we can do through innate knowledge.

But when it pleased

     God,

who separated me

    from my mother's 

     womb

and called me through

    His grace.

                         Galatians 1:15

Be of Good Comfort and One Mind

Richard L. Crumb

 

All Men And Women Are Without Excuse

...because what may be known

of God

is manifest in them, 

for
God has shown it to them.

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,

 Romans 1:19-20

     There are those people who cavil at the suggestion that they have no excuse when it come to having a knowledge that there is a God. An atheist may grovel, even scour at any suggestion that there is a God. they refuse to believe that there is any possibility for a God and that this life is all that is, nothing more. I watched a scene in the movie "Saints and Soldiers" where an atheist question the other soldier that believed in God over the death of soldiers and civilians. The Christian believed that there was a heaven and had comfort in that thought, the atheist did not, in fact the atheist, looking at the believer, stated that he did not believe in such a place and found no comfort by thinking there was such a place and that thought, by the believer, was only convenient, then the believer looking at the atheist said to him, "how convenient it was for him to not believe." True ignorance or feigned ignorance over the existence of God does not mean that there is not a God. One may refuse to recognize that there is a God, or even that there is a possibility that there is a God, but to refuse something does not make something less true. An illustration may go such: A person is standing in the middle of a highway, and at this time it is empty, no cars, but it is a well used highway and cars do use the road. Refuse to recognize that cars do use the highway, ignore the facts, something that people often attempt to do, and in time, even though at present he does not see any cars, therefore he concludes that there must not be any cars, in time he will come to know that there are cars, in real way. You can ignore facts only so long, then the facts are face to face with you. It is better to learn the truth, this truth may just save your life. 

     To say that God is Sovereign, Supreme, must be based upon the fact and truth that there is a God and that I can know that there is a God. Ignore, refuse, all you want, the truth is; all men have some knowledge of God. What we do with that knowledge, how we handle this knowledge is handled differently be different people, not necessarily correctly, atheist one way, Pantheist another. Some make idols and worship them, others leave God out all together, at least in some form. Yet,what can be said is that all men have the conviction that thee is a Being on whom they are responsible and dependent. If this is true then, what is the source of this conviction? 

     I will divide this study into three parts: 1: That this knowledge is innate; 2: That it is a deduction of reason; 3: That it is to be referred to a supernatural revelation, preserved by tradition.  The conclusion will have shown that our faith in God, a God that is Sovereign, Supreme, is not misplaced deepening our faith and love towards the creator, and learning to become what He has called us; "Children of God" (read 1 John). 

     Starting tomorrow I will begin with #1, That knowledge, of God, is innate. What does that mean? How does that work? Can a person believe on its innateness? What is the proof? etc. 

In the beginning 

     God created

the heavens and 

    the earth.

             Genesis 1:1

Give Thanks to God

Richard L. Crumb

God Is Sovereign--We Have No Excuse To Deny God

For since the creation

of the world

His invisible atrributes

are clearly seen,

being understood by

the things that are made,

even His eternal power and 

Godhead,

So that they are

without excuse.

Romans 1:20

     To begin let us derive an understanding of the word "sovereign" or "sovereignty" for without a clear understanding of this word then our understanding as good or bad as it might be will undermine our thinking on this matter. Most people would understand that a monarch, king or other supreme ruler is determined to be sovereign. We even call certain gold coins or money as sovereigns. To be sovereign would mean that the there would be of necessity power, or authority and having supreme importance, excellence. Sovereignty to be held is to be supreme and independent in power or authority, to have rightful status, independence, and sole prerogative. For God to be God He must be sovereign, have sovereignty, the right to rule with His prerogative wisdom and desire. To be less would make Him a lesser 'god' not a God upon whom could demand total loyalty. We would have no ground for our faith, our hope, everlasting life promised by a God who is not sovereign would not secure eternal life or any goodness as may have been promised. Being sovereign does not relegate that He be either good or bad, only that He is sovereign. If being a bad God, then, we should not expect anything good except that which would fit His desires eliminating our faith in having a life so designed that God had chose to give to His creation anything good. But, if a good God, then we can expect good things, that a good God would reveal Himself to His creation, and that our faith in His promises are certain to be fulfilled for our best. We have no right to tell God what we want or how we want Him to be. Idol worshipers attempt to make their god to be what they thing god should be and do. The problem with the Church is that far too often we try and do the same thing with God. We want Him to be as we would like Him to be and when anything is said in opposition to the God we have designed Him to be we often get angry. We say that God is this or that, will do this thing or that thing.  All of this without any reference to what the Bible actually says about Him, what He desires, what He demands. We say that God has revealed Himself in the Bible and then go off and ignore what it says and live the way we want to live. We worship the way we want to have worship done, we develop Doctrines outside of the revelation of God in the Bible, while still claiming that the Bible has authority over our life. Authority because God is sovereign, but, is He really sovereign in your life? Do we really know what God has revealed about Himself in the Bible? Or, do we go the way that seems right, good, and best? In other words, are we living according to the Bible or have we done nothing more than isogesis, that read into the Bible what we want it to say rather than exogesis, that is to allow the Bible to tell us what it is actually saying? 

      It is nice to speak of the sovereignty of God but, does God actually exist? How do we know? How can we know? Where do we go to find the source of such knowledge? Is God a good God, or a bad God? There are many questions about that, such as, "Why does God allow death, sickness, bad things to happen?" If God is sovereign why doesn't He do something about such trials, and tribulations that plague man and this earth? Has God revealed Himself and can I put faith in that revelation that tells me who God is and what God desires of me? Can we have faith in God who has promised everlasting life and has promised everlasting punishment. Life to some and death to others? Important is can I put my faith in God. Here is an important question: "what is the origin of the idea of God?" 

     This study will examine this idea of God, who He is, what He desires, and from were did this idea or origination of God come, further can I put my faith, trust, belief, and hope in Him? 

For I am not ashamed

     of the gospel of Christ,

for it is the power of God

     to salvation for everyone

who believes, for the Jew first

    and also for the Greek.

For in it the righteousness of God

    is revealed from faith to faith; 

as it is written, "The just shall live by faith."

                                       Romans 1:16-17

Blessed are all those who put

    their trust in Him.  

              

Richard L. Crumb

Our Faith Is In A Sovereign God

Oh, the the riches

both of the wisdom

and knowledge of God!

How unsearchable 

are His judgments 

and His ways

past finding out!

Romans 11:33

     God hath all life,a glory,b goodness,c blessedness,d in and of Himself; and is alone in and unto Himself all-sufficient, not standing in need of any creatures which He hath made,e not deriving any glory from them,f but only manifesting His own glory in, by, unto, and upon them: He is the alone fountain of all being, of whom, through whom, and to whom are all things;g and hath most  sovereign dominion over them, to do by them, for them, or upon them whatsoever Himself pleaseth.h In His sight all things are open and manifest;i His knowledge is infinite, infallible, and independent upon the creature,k so as nothing is to Him contingent, or uncertain.l He is most holy in all His counsels, in all His works, and in all His commands.m To Him is due from angels and men, and every other creature, whatsoever worship, or obedience He is pleased to require of them.n (Westminster Confession of Faith, 1646 A.D.; Chapter 2; section 2). (Scripture References: a: John 5:26; b: Acts 7:2; c: Psalm 119:68; d: 1 timothy 6:15; Romans 9:5; e: Acts 17:24-25; f: Job 22:2-3; g: Romans 11:36; h: Revelation 4:11; 1 Timothy 6:15; Daniel 4:25, 35; i: Hebrews 4:13; k: Romans 11:33-34; Psalms 147:5; l: Acts 15:18; Ezekiel 11:5; m: Psalms 145:17; Romans 7:12-14).

     From the preceding blogs it has been demonstrated that faith comes in at least two ways: 1: Common faith, we believe a thing, even though it may be unseen, to be true. In other words, faith has in it elements of trust, belief, hope; therefore one of those elements are greater at times than another. The more knowledge we have of a thing in which we are putting our "faith" the more the elements evolve in importance. For instance; if we were to attempt to cross a lonely out of the way bridge, all alone, to cross it with no knowledge about it would require much faith. If we had knowledge as to its construction and it soundness, the less faith we would have and the more trust or belief is evidenced. This then is objective faith. 2. Propositional faith has no concrete evidence and requires more faith and even those other elements make up the quality of faith less is required of them, at least until more knowledge is obtained, then more trust and hope, and belief become major elements of our faith, but faith in propositions always reigns and requires our faith, first and foremost. We have put our faith in the unseen, that which cannot be seen, therefore when the unseen thing is salvation, this requires salvation faith. God is unseen, and all we know of Him is what He has revealed. We have some objective evidence, i.e., trees, dirt, flowers, etc. but still we cannot see Him or touch Him. Yet, we say that He is sovereign over all things. How can we have faith in the unseen? How does the world around us give any evidence in which to lead us to faith in Him? How can we know for sure, put our faith in salvation, the world to come, everlasting life. In fact who is this God in which we have put our faith? 

     Let us come to this understanding before we examine the Sovereignty of God. God is a different being! We must not attempt to anthropormorphize Him, that is to make Him have any resemblance to man. God is infinite, there is no beginning nor any end to Him. This may "boggle" the mind as we have recognition of things having a beginning and an end. We cannot understand Him except by the means He has given in which He reveals Himself, or that revelation that we need to know of Him. We cannot judge God in any way for we have limited knowledge and He has unlimited knowledge or He knows the end from the beginning. To say that God should do or have done a thing is at best fallacious. We cannot blame Him for the bad for God is good in all that He does, His purpose will stand no matter what occurs here on earth. Moses writes: "Then He said, 'I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion" (Exodus 33:19). While speaking to Moses God reminded Him and us: "But He said, 'You cannot see My face; for no man shall see me, and live" (Exodus 33:20). 

     We now begin a series on the Doctrine of the Sovereignty of God. This Doctrine has been ravaged by some to have meanings that fit their presuppositions and are not founded on the revealed Word of God causing confusion, lives that are lived with the wrong idea of God and what this Sovereign God wants from His creatures. Acknowledgement of the the Sovereignty of God in our lives is life changing. Once the Biblical understanding of this Doctrine is assimilated by us we are no longer the same and our faith has a solid and sure foundation. 

     Paul further quotes from the Old Testament in regards to God: "For who has know the mind of he LORD? (Isaiah 40:13) or who has become His counselor? (Jeremiah 23:18) or who has first given to Him and it shall be repaid to him? (Job 41:11)." 

But as it is writtten:

"Eye has not seen, nor ear

     heard,

Nor have entered into the

     heart of man

The things which God has

     prepared for those who love

Him."  (Isaiah 64:4; 65:17)

                     1 Corinthians 2:9

Blessed Be The Name of God Forever

Richard L. Crumb

                   

 

Jesus Christ Prays That Our Faith Not Fail

I pray for them.

I do not pray 

for the world but

for those whom

You have given Me,

 for they are Yours.

John 17:9

 

     It is not merely the certainty of the salvation of those that believe; but their certain perseverance in holiness.This is a contradiction in terms for salvation to be aligned with sin. This is what Paul teaches by means of inspiration from the Holy Spirit that in the first part perseverance in holiness is secured by the influence of the Holy Spirit, further in part by all the means adapted to secure that end: i.e., instructions, admonitions, exhortations, warnings, the means of grace, and the dispensations of His providence. It has been spoken of in these blogs that God from before the foundation of the world (Romans 8:28-29) in His love determined all things, He determined the end, further He and He alone knows the end of all things, He determined that as well, therefore since He has determined the end then by necessity He has determined the means for its accomplishment.

 

     God is immutable, He is infinitely great and gratuitous, therefore it is certain that believers will be saved, He will accomplish His determined end. Paul writes this so eloquently so that our faith can be assured: "For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, or any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of "God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38-39).Paul's statement and belief begs us to question ourselves; are we so persuaded? do we live as we believe and are so persuaded? It is not enough to have the knowledge that God is so and that we are counted worthy by Him to be secure, it is through the living out our faith day by day, in every circumstance, that it is God first, God second, God third, Him and nothing else. We wrote earlier that it is by the power of the Holy Spirit but we too have a part and Peter writes: "But also for this very reason (Peter just spoke that we are partakers of the divine nature), giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. for if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 1:5-8). 

 

     As Paul teaches us that perseverance of God's children does not rest upon the indestructible nature of faith, or on the imperishable nature of the principle of grace in the heart, or on the constancy of the believer's will, but solely on solely what is out of ourselves, that is not what is within ourselves, that by our own power. Yes, we must demonstrate perseverance, it is our faith demonstrated in works and by such means we can be sure of our salvation and our call, our election: "Therefore brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble" (2Peter 1:10). It is not for God we make our election sure, our election and calling are immutable; it is for us and for our witness to the world. Perseverance is due to the purpose of God, to work in Christ, to the indwelling in the Holy Spirit, furthermore it is to that mysterious primal source the immutable love of God. We do not keep ourselves; we are kept by the power of God, through faith unto salvation: "who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time" (1Peter 1:5). 

 

Do not love the world

    or the things

in the world. if anyone

     loves the world,

the love of the Father 

    is not in him.

                  1 John 2:15

Grace and Peace Be Multiplied

Richard L. Crumb

 

 

God's Love Not Dependent On Our Attractiveness

But God demonstrates

His own love

toward us,

in that while 

we were still sinners,

Christ died for us.

Romans 5:8

     It has been argued that immutability of God's love, the greatness and freeness of that love, His children can never be lost. This Paul argues from the point of God's love: "He who did not spare His own Son, but  delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things" (Romans 8:32)? It is not inconceivable that if God gave the greater thing we can be assured that He will not do less. Fact in point, He gave His Son, so will He not give us faith to receive His Son? Will He not give constancy to enable us to preserve unto the end? This love of God is so great towards His children that they cannot fail to be His objects. We cannot on our own merit obtain this love, it is gratuitous. That being so then it is not found on any attractiveness of His objects; us, just as the opening verse declares. It s by the blood of Jesus, that is, His death on the cross where His blood poured out, that our faith in that propitiation for sins is applied to His children because of His great love: "Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we hall be saved by His life" (Romans 5:9-10). 

    An example will well illustrate this love of God. I shall compare His love with that of parental love. A mother loves her child not because of his attractiveness, but because it is lovely. This mother love leads her to do all she can to make the child attractive and to keep it so. This love of God so mysterious inasmuch as it can be accountable to Him and not  by anything of its objects, this He does by securing them in the beauty of holiness, giving graces of His Spirit. To say that God loves us for our goodness is a major mistake, this would be the Arminian view, that man has autonomous free will and because that sinner comes to love God and put their faith in God, then God will love him and give him graces and holiness. This the Bible does not teach, for we are sinners saved by grace and that not of ourselves.There is no goodness in man that would lead him to suppose that God's love is dependent somehow upon our attractivness, this goodness. We are totally depraved, all that we deserve is death, but by the mercy of God He enables and saves men according to His Sovereignty. We should look to God for our sustaining and our attractiveness for it is found in God as He applies His love to us. He will not allow us to fail, nor can Satan destroy our relationship with Him, we are made into the likeness of His Son, Jesus Christ. Therefore neither we or Satan can destroy this likeness which God has impressed upon our souls. God loves His children to the end, further Jesus Christ prays for them that their faith may not fail. When it is here stated that our faith can fail is not to be determined, lost. We may go through many trials, some we caused, some others caused, no matter what from where they came our salvation is secure: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time....that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it it tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory ant the revelation of Jesus Christ" (1Peter 1:3-5;7).

     Finally, this we must never forget: "But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light:..."(1Peter 2:9). God's children have nothing to fear, we are kept by God, but we have work to do, and that work, to proclaim the Gospel in every manner, life, words, to our children, leaving no one out of our proclamation. We do not know who are elected be God, we only have the commission to take His Gospel to the word and God will draw and enable His children. Being involved in this work will lessen the chances that we must go through hard trials and fire for we will live by His Word and that Word will protect us from our evil hearts and from Satan fiery darts.

Whoever believes 

     that Jesus

is the Christ born 

     of God,

and everyone who

    loves HIm

who begot also loves

    Him who is

begotten of Him.

              1 John 5:1

May Your Joy Be Full

Richard L. Crumb