Foolishness Of Men

The fool has said in his heart,

"there is no God."

They are corrupt, they have done

abominable works,

there is none who does good.

The LORD looks down from heaven 

upon the children of men,

to see if there are any who understand,

who seek God.

They have together become corrupt,

there is none who does good,

no, not one.

Psalm 14:1-3

     Overheard the other day where two students who have become involved with a "church" that teaches what I would call at the very least, falsehood. Their discussion over their homework was, free will. Eavesdropping, I heard that man could choose for himself, not only those temporal things of life but could choose for himself to believe in God. In fact they were attempting to use this free will so that they could know what the other person was thinking or going through so they could better approach them with some revelation from God. David the king of Israel wrote the above Psalm, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. It is clearly outlined for all to read; men do not do what is good; they are corrupt. "There is none who does good;" David writes. The word "fool" is singular denoting that each one does not do good, then he uses the plural; "none" indicating that all people are corrupt. If that is not enough, then allow a second witness to this fact. Paul's letter to the Romans: "What then? Are we better than they? (Who are the they? It is the Jews that Paul speaks of here, and to those unrighteous, those who do not believe), Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin. As it is written: 'There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside;they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one" (Romans 3:9-12). 

     Men think little of the grace that they had received and turned away from God. This turning away from God, the truth of God, even within the Church, is even to found with those who have claimed Christianity as their faith and religion. To deny the Providence of God is a form of atheism. One may not be a true absolute atheist, yet be a practical atheist. You may object, cavil all you want, I must also think hard upon this fact; if anyone denies the Providence of God, then in effect they have denied the Being of God. How? They strip Him of that wisdom, the goodness, tenderness, mercy, justice, righteousness, which are the glory of the Deity. It is to deny that God sent His Son, to become incarnate so that the goodness, and mercy of God would be the propitiation for men' foolishness. When a person in some form denies the Providence of God they seek after sinful pleasures, in effect they are declaring that there is no God. Or, they attempt to prove their sanctification by overdoing those things that are pleasurable to the senses. When we allow our foolishness to lead us in ways that are unScriptural then we lose that which would check our senses, our lusts. We seek that which would give us an enjoyment, just for enjoyment' sake. There is little difference between the dissenting from one and the disowning the other. If we habitually seek after any form of sordid lust, how can we scarcely say and seriously believe that there is a God, but in our works we would deny Him. To deny God is to deny His Son, His Only Begotten Son. That is only to become a grand fool. 

     It is natural, as our nature is corrupt, it is totally depraved, we will not choose God, and will will not accept His Son, unless we make His Son to be what we want Him to be; this eliminates what God has had written about Him and what we are to Him, and what we are in Him. Men have defiled themselves to the point that all that God could do in regards to His justice is to destroy that which had created and to keep His Law. Men had lost that original goodness, they were not under any compunction to sin, they truly had free will, no sin was in their body, their soul; they had direct and complete communication with God. It was their sin, that they lost an apprehension of God. It is not a loss of the knowledge that there is a God, but this new corrupt nature will not admit of the true God; therefore they find other ways to make for themselves another god(s). It is with men exactly as Paul mentions: "who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever, Amen" (Romans 1:25). Men have transferred their worship to things they have created and have transferred the honor which is due to God, and to His Son, our Savior, to material objects, even to a form of worship that cannot be found in the Scriptures. Other men have taught and are teaching falsehood, a meaning for life that is not what is taught by the Scriptures. In this sense they become lawless, they neither know God nor His Word. 

     But, God did not and does not hide Himself from man, He is in sight of man, we can know that there is a God who created all things and that He exists. He leads us to His Word, from that leading to His Son. When those that God has chosen hears the word, for how can they hear without a preacher (Romans 10:14)? God has unfolded this knowledge in many forms and in many ways; we are without excuse. We need to stop this self-seeking and live for God and for His Wisdom, His Word, our Savior: "who 'will render to each one according to his deeds' (Psalm 62:12), eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness--indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek" (Romans 2:6-9). 

    Good news! God knows the limitation of man. God sent His Son, Incarnate, who paid the debt of sin, and abolished the Law of Death. Because of what God has done for His children and as one of His children; live for Him, let your life be a witness for Him, do not allow yourselves to follow after those foolish teachings that lead men to do and act according to their senses and not according to His Word. All that is done when we do not live for God is, in some large sense, denying Him, and to deny Him is to deny His Son. Paul gives this admonishment: "You who make your boast in the Law, do you dishonor God through breaking the Law? For 'the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you" (Romans 2:23-24). Does this not cause us who call ourselves "Christian" to examine our lives? 

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. (Psalm 32:1-2)

                      Romans 4:7-8

Peace to you all who are in Christ Jesus. Amen

Richard L. Crumb

 

The Divine Dilemma--The Solution--The Incarnation

He who sits 

in the heavens

shall laugh; 

the Lord shall 

hold them 

in derision.

Then He shall 

speak to them 

in His wrath,

and distress them

in His deep

displeasure:

Yet I have set

My King On

My holy hill of Zion.
Psalm 2:4-6

     In all ages that man has been upon this earth God has revealed Himself and the fact that He was coming to bring to His people a redeemer. God revealed that fact to those men of God, the prophets, even to kings; further Jesus Christ selected certain men, the Apostles, and those that He willed and inspired to write about Him, even God promised that not even one jot or title would pass away from His Law: "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the Law or the till all is fulfilled"(Matthew 5:17-18). Allow me to expand on those verses; a jot in Hebrew is a yod, and a yod makes the difference in a word. We use a tittle in our language, take the letter "O' and put attach a tittle like in the letter "Q", see the tail? That is a tittle. Man never was without that revelation and if not having that revelation spoken to them by the will of God they would never have been left destitute of the knowledge as man cannot know God without God intervening in their lives. The Omniscience God knew that His creation, man, in their limited nature could not have the knowledge of God, that is they cannot know the incorporeal and the uncreated. But God did not leave man destitute of the knowledge of Himself, even after Adam sinned bringing forth an inherited sin that needed a savior. Now if God had left man without the knowledge of Himself the existence of man would have no purpose. What use is it for an to be existent if he cannot know its maker? Men were created as rational, sentient beings, and being reasonable beings if they had no knowledge of the Word and the Reason of the Father, they would be nothing more than as the beasts of the field; they would know of earthly things but not heavenly things. 

    Did not God desire and intend that they would know Him? Yes! Did God not walk and talk with Adam in the Garden of Eden? Yes! Was not the knowledge of God present in the lives of the pre-flood people? Yes! In fact Adam was alive until shortly before the flood, and His son Seth was alive until just before the flood. How do you think that Enoch would know of God; how would Noah or his family know of God and what God required if not having that knowledge revealed to them? They did! God made man in His image, they have a share in the image of God, and that image is in our Lord Jesus Christ, we are made after the same image and likeness: "but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond servant, and coming in the likeness of men" (Philippians 2:7). We are to become like Him: "and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness" (Ephesians 4:24). "Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:4). We are to become conformed to the image of God and this is possible by the faith given to us and the Holy Spirit that was promised to His children, to live in us. God came, the Son of God, the Second Person of the Trinity, raised from the dead by the Holy Spirit, in order to save all who were predestined to be saved, and making Him to be apprehended. this is the method for the happiness that the Maker desired for men, for them to have a happy and blessed life. But what has men done in regards to what God has done? Men are foolish and this is the subject of the next blog. Even those chosen by God sin. All of His children need forgiveness of their sins and Jesus gave a formula for us in His model prayer: "And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors" (Matthew 5:12). Forgiveness is available for those who are truly contrite in heart and the second part is that we are to forgive those who have trespassed against us; how can we expect God to forgive us if we are not willing to forgive others. Read the 1John; slowly, allow the words to penetrate your heart and see if your attitude and desire does not change. John full of love in his heart under inspiration from the Holy Spirit gives this advice: "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.Beloved, if god so love us, we also ought to love one another" (1John 4:7-11). Love is the sign, a hallmark of a true Christian. It is this principled love, the Love of God in us that we do things that are loving for we are loving as God loves. Yes, we do things that are philanthropical, but that arises out of the love in our hearts that is the Love of the Father. I do not write this blog just to espouse knowledge, rather that your life is filled with faith, that you are changed from the inside out. 

We know that 

    whoever is born

of God does not sin;

    but he who been 

born of God keeps

    himself, and the 

wicked one does

    not touch him.

                   1 John 5:18

Today, Greet Your Friends, and Family In God's Love

Richard L. Crumb

The Incarnation Was The Great Work Of The Goodness Of God

But we see Jesus,

who was made 

a little lower

than angels, 

for the suffering

of death

crowned with 

glory and honor,

that He,

by the grace

of God, 

might taste

death for everyone.

Hebrews 2:9

     The old Arian heresy has been revived within the religious beliefs of Jehovah Witnesses and often the above Scripture is cited as a proof text that Jesus Christ was not God, rather was a created being. The Scripture cited does not give any evidence to Him being created or that He was a separate being, but it does state that Jesus Christ was made to be a little lower than angels, and is that not what we are? Yes! Furthermore for those of Arminianism who hold that anyone who so desires has just enough goodness in them, that they are not totally depraved and can choose God, point to the word, παντός, derived from the word, πας, that is translated, everyone, using that as proof that everyone can choose God for themselves, do not know Greek grammar. This is not proof of that at all, for seldom is the word, πας, used individually, rather it is used collectively. Charles Spurgeon points out this fact:
"... 'The whole world is gone after him.' Did all the world go after Christ? 'Then went all Judea, and were baptized of him in Jordan.' Was all Judea, or all Jerusalem baptized in Jordan? 'Ye are of God, little children', and 'the whole world lieth in the wicked one.' Does 'the whole world' there mean everybody? If so, how was it, then, that there were some who were 'of God?' The words 'world' and 'all' are used in some seven or eight senses in Scripture; and it is very rarely that 'all' means all persons, taken individually. The words are generally used to signify that Christ has redeemed some of all sorts—some Jews, some Gentiles, some rich, some poor, and has not restricted his redemption to either Jew or Gentile." (Charles H. Spurgeon, Particular Redemption, A Sermon, 28 Feb 1858; italics mine). The word used in the above Scripture is masculine, genitive, and singular; therefore a literal translation would be; a certain son of all types. Why make a "big" deal out of the above Scripture? Because when we do not know the original languages and try to teach what the Bible writers actually said, and what the Greek speaking people would hear and understand is important if we are to not become involved in falsehood. I will not take away from the truth that it was God, who came, it was God in man, a God/Man, who paid the price for the sins of corrupt man. It was Jesus, God of true God, who suffered and died upon that cross and it is God who indwells His children and has caused the Law of Death to have lost its power of the Bride of Christ. The enemy, Satan and his hordes of demons have been foiled and death has simply ceased to be for God's children. The great work was worthy of the goodness of God. God, the Son of God, had regard for His own honor, more so that to the people's neglect. Many had fallen but by the death of His Own body He abolished death that they occurred and corrected their neglect by His teaching. Thus by His Own power He restored the whole nature of man: "For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died" (2Corinthians 5:14). It is true that the death of Jesus Christ was sufficient for all, but Jesus Christ came for His bride, those who His Father would give to Him by drawing them and by enabling them to accept what He did for them by His death. How did He draw men? By the free gift of faith! We are not sufficient in ourselves as Paul points out: "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant..."(2Corinthians 3:6-7a). All that we have we have received from God: "For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why boast as if you had not received it" (1Corinthians 4:7)? Paul writes to the Ephesians: "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God" (Ephesians 2:8). What is that gift? It is faith, by the grace of God, you cannot do anything of yourselves to earn salvation. Jesus Christ died upon the tree, the tree of death, the most horrible form of death that the Romans could devise, and this for His bride, that bride that He came to save and have life with Him forever. John in his Revelation records: "They (those whose names are written in the Book of Life, my notes) shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever"(Revelation 22:4-5). Do you desire the blessing that is given to everyone that He came for and desire to have that tree of life? It is possible in the present moment. There is no need to wait until God chastises you and places you into an event that causes you to recognize the faith in you and then you choosing Him. Don't come to Him by means of fire, come now, receive the blessing now. It is by keeping His commandments that we can, now, in this moment of time, have His blessing: "Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the trees of life, and may enter through the gates into the city" (Revelation 22:14).
     By means of that rescue of mankind from corruption was the proper work that Jesus Christ did for His bride, the only means that would suffice, because it was He who made man, all things, in the beginning. When we die we no longer do so as men condemned to death. We are in the process of rising, we await the general resurrection of all: "which he will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords" (1Timothy 6:15). It was God who wrought us and it is God who bestowed this hope on us. He is the First Cause of the Savior's becoming man. This God did and even more and that is the subject of the next blog.

To the elect lady
    and her children,
whom I love in truth,
    and not only I,
but also all those who
    have known the truth,
because of the truth
    which abides in us
and will be with us
    forever:
                3John 1-2


A sure Hope: Surely I am coming quickly


Richard L. Crumb