How Is It Possible To Have Authentic Biblical Faith?

I beseech you therefore, 

brethren, by the mercies of God,

that you present your bodies

a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable 

to God, which is your reasonable

service. and do not be conformed

to this world, but be transformed

by the renewing of your mind,

that you may prove what is that

good and acceptable and perfect

will of God.

Romans 12:1-2

     Authentic Biblical Faith is one that has not been conformed to this world, to the culture of this world, and those who adhere to His word and apply His word in their lives are those who have Authentic Biblical Faith. As fallen creatures, totally depraved, in need of a Savior, we cannot become living sacrifices for God unless it is by the power of the Holy Spirit living in us: "But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His" (Romans 8:9). The Bible is absolutely clear about this issue of Authentic Biblical Faith and how one can be sure that He is one who has Authentic Biblical Faith, that is, you must have truly repented of your sinfulness, and fully, without reservation, believe upon Jesus Christ as your Savior, and as your God: you must belong to Jesus Christ. By belonging to Him, knowing that you are saved by Him, and that He is God, come to save you, then you put away worldly things, and you follow after the will of God, His will that is plain and clear in His word. It is only unclear if one adds to His word the culture of this world. We are to be a separate people: "Therefore, 'come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you shall be My sons and daughters, says the LORD Almighty" (2Corinthians 6:17-18; cf. Is. 52:11; 2Sam. 7:14). 

     One noticeable aspect of Churches that are cultural, or liberal, is the absence of the Creeds. In fact for most it seems that the Creeds are abhorrent, not used, not taught, even to the point whereby most "Christians" those who attend such Churches do not know they even exist. "Don't call me Creedal" seems to be the cry from those Churches. Oh! They preach tickling sermons, pleasing to hear, even going so far to call for decisions, and this is thought to be pleasing to God. How ridiculous! God makes it plain: if you do not believe that you are a total sinner, that somehow within you you can believe whenever you decide to do so, then there is no necessity for the Gospel. Jesus Christ died in vain! There is a faulty acceptance of God. Cultural Christians have little understanding of what the Bible teaches about the work of the Holy Spirit. They know of the Holy Spirit, even might call Him the third Person of the Trinity, but they do know Him and what Jesus Christ has done: He has saved you if you believe on Him and are converted, not just make a decision, for a decision is unstable, for it is changeable, but conversion is permanent. This conversion does not make you perfect, without sin, you are still a sinner, but your growth, your continued forward motion in sanctification is evidence of your conversion. And this you can do by the power of the Holy Spirit: that is if you allow Him to work in your lives. Yes! This means to become separated from this world. Yes! This means that you will be ridiculed, put down, persecuted, even killed. So what! It is God who saved you, not for this life, but for eternal life with Him. What can man do to you? Nothing! But you can do for them. You can make disciples, you can preach the Gospel. The Gospel is summed up in the Creeds, especially the Apostle's Creed. You should know it, and read it, and teach it, are recite it, thereby having the Gospel assimilated into your very being, this changes you causing you to be able to present yourself to God a "living sacrifice." Traditional Version:
I believe in God the Father Almighty,
     Maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord;
    who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,
born of the Virgin Mary, Suffered under Pontius Pilate,
     was crucified, dead, and buried; 
He descended into hell; the third day He rose
    again from the dead; He ascended into heaven,
and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
    from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost; 
     the holy catholic Church;
the communion of saints;
     the forgiveness of sins;
the resurrection of the body;
    and the life everlasting.
Amen.
     Creeds were written due to the influence of heretical views, they have been recited by Christians throughout the ages, except in Churches that depend on cultural theology. They allow this world to influence their preaching and teaching leading men, women, and children astray. These misconceptions as to what the Bible actually teaches is the root problem. This seems so incomprehensible when we consider the enormous price that Jesus Christ paid for our sin, for the sin of the world. We have adequate grounds to be Authentic Biblical Christians, but it will take courage to live as such, we must make decisions that are difficult, but necessary for ourselves, for our families, and friends, co-workers, etc. As Paul wrote: "but be transformed

by the renewing of your mind,

that you may prove what is that

good and acceptable and perfect

will of God.

Romans 12:2

For everyhone practicing evil

     hates the light and does

not come to the light, lest

    his deeds should be exposed.

But he who does the truth 

    comes to the light, that 

his deeds may be clearly seen, 

    that they have been done

in God.

                           John 3:20-21

All Of God's People: Lift Up Your Eyes To Heaven

Richard L. Crumb

Faulty Emotions Are Derived From Faulty Thinking About The Holy Spirit

And I will pray the Father,

and He will give you another

Helper, that He may abide 

with you forever--the 

Spirit of truth, who the

world cannot receive,

because it neither sees 

Him nor knows Him;

but you know Him for He 

dwells with you and 

will be in you.

John 14:16-17

     Emotions are a part and parcel of humanity, they cannot be avoided, they may be dismissed in some fashion, but they are always present in our lives. It is the object of our emotion that determines the validity of our emotions and it is a fact; we can control our emotions. This may be difficult at times, but we can control them if our emotions have the foundation of Jesus Christ who is in control of all circumstances of life. Furthermore, Jesus sent to all believers the Holy Spirit to live within man, to guide him, to teach him, to present with him in all situations, and when we place our faith in Him, and in the promises of God, then we can control our emotions so that they are represented of God who is our object for our emotions. When situations or circumstances seem to be beyond our control, then we go to the One who is in control: God, the Holy Spirit and He prays for us making intercession for us and will comfort us: "Blessed by the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulations, that we may be able to comfort those who are in trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God: (2Corinthians 1:3-4). The Holy Spirit was promised to be sent to aid God's children: "Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power form on high" (Luke 24:49). Yes, this promise is first to the Apostles and we find in Acts that the Holy Spirit did come to them and many were saved on the day of Pentecost. Jesus when speaking with the Apostles to give them comfort and a promise said: "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things I said to you" (John 14:26). This record of Jesus' words applied to the Apostles immediately, for Jesus was about to be crucified and would be leaving their sight and physical presence, therefore, they needed to know that they were not left destitute the Holy Spirit, God himself in the third Person would come to them and live in them. The words of Jesus are the words for all of God's children, they apply to us as well as they did to the Apostles, we are not to think that what Jesus said was only for the Apostles for the word is God communicating to His people telling them what He desires for them and what He will and is doing for them. 

     This sending of the Holy Spirit being true, a promise of God, for God never goes back on His word, then there must be an understanding of the Holy Spirit and how He works in our lives. If a person has created a religiosity that is not Scriptural, a religiosity that is cultural, and not spiritual, then their view and understanding of the Holy Spirit will be askew. Those who have the wrong understanding of the Holy Spirit are those who attempt to manage their lives, and even to manage the Holy Spirit by means of their own abilities, that is for them the empowerment of the Holy Spirit is experientially expressed, yet they do not know by means of true controlled experience, nor by true intellectual understanding of the Holy Spirit and they attempt to cause the Holy Spirit to have power in their lives, and this they do through many means that are relative to their feelings and not to God. To the Apostles they had faith in Jesus Christ and in His words, they loved Jesus Christ with a constant reality and the power or the Holy Spirit enabling them to live a life of Authentic Biblical Faith, in this world.

     Why cannot cultural Christians have this same Authentic Biblical Faith? They believe they do! Yet, their exercise of "faith" is not Scriptural, rather it is self-serving. The simple answer to the question is: In a large degree cultural Christianity is not a product of Biblical truth. It is the product of a religious system created by and for nominal Christians. The Bible teaches us that we are powerless in and of ourselves: "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you do nothing" (John 15:5). Yes, it is true, we do much that is apart from Him, we make choices, we make decisions, we live this life as we see fit, yet no matter how we live, no matter what decisions we make apart from Him, God is Providential and will cause all things to work for the good of His people, yet, what we do apart from Him has very little to do with the realities of the kingdom of God. A life of spiritual reality requires the enabling influence of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we must examine our thinking about the Holy Spirit, is it faulty or is it Authentic Biblical Faith. This is where our study is going, to teach us what the Bible teaches us about the One whom God has sent to live in us. 

      Praise God! Lift your eyes to heaven for from God we have the power of the Holy Spirit who will testify of God to us: "But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me, and you also will bear witness, because with Me from the beginning" (John 14:26). What words of comfort for the Apostles, what words of comfort for us who truly believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ and live lives of Authentic Biblical Faith. 

Now may our Lord Jesus Christ 

     Himself, and our God and 

Father, who has loved us and 

    given us everlasting consolation

and good hope by grace, comfort 

    your hearts and establish you

in every good word and work.

                                   2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

Have Confidence In The Lord

Richard L. Crumb

The Application Of Emotions In Our Spiritual Lives

And so it was, when those 

bearing the ark of the LORD had

gone six paces, that he sacrificed

oxen and fatted sheep.

 Then David danced before

the LORD with all his might;

and David was wearing a linen 

ephod.... Now as the ark of the

LORD came into the City of David,

Michal, Saul's daughter, looked 

through a window and saw

King David leaping and whirling

before the LORD; and she 

despised him in her heart.

2Samuel 6:13-14, 16

     All men and women have unused reserve potential, whether they use it or not, even if they do not they have such potential. It is when we tap into that potential that we find that our focus and vision is enhanced and our effort is increased. This is what occurred with King David, he tapped into his reserve of emotion and his focused was not on the emotion but the object of his emotion: God. The ark being brought into the City of David was an exercise in faith, belief, that God was represented by this object and then knowing that this action, this carrying of the ark into the city was pleasing to God David could do nothing more than to express his emotion and this he did by dancing, whirling, etc. Now do not use this example to give validity to emotions that are similar but do not have God as the focus, rather their focus is on the emotion as can be seen in many Churches that perform emotionalism as evidence of their piety. Only their piety is not God centered as they believe due to the fact that they are playing on the feelings of the congregant rather than their untapped emotions are due to the Holiness of God and that He is pleased to save. Now, a problem exists; some will consider our emotions to be wrong and will be displeased as was David's wife Michal, for they only see the actions and not the reason for such actions. It is hard though to separate actions from one person that is not centered on God, from those who have similar actions that are centered on God. Yet, we are not to dispose of emotional actions, that is to be stoic, proper so to speak, we are to apply those dynamics to your own spiritual life. It is of supreme significance that even with all our flaws and weaknesses we are called to use our senses, our untapped emotions in our worship. Only though they must be controlled so that our emotions are focused on God and not on ourselves. We cannot neglect this task for by it we are motivated to do what needs to be done. Now, do not think that when I speak of emotions that they must be displayed as did David, rather that our emotions should drive us to be all that God requires of us. Emotions can supply the extra impetus to move us to action.

      Do you not know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God? In fact, do you realize that the Son of God is God? Think upon that fact, it is hard to realize that God came in the person of the Son of God, the second Person of the Trinity, the very Wisdom of God and is that not adequate enough to cause us to live holy lives? Ponder on this fact: Jesus Christ is the Savior for all of those that the Father gives to Him, and to be the Savior He had to suffer on our behalf. Why did He have to suffer? Because man is evil and Satan has chosen to use evil men to do his work, that is, to destroy, if he could, the Savior, and this he did by using the most cruel punishment possible at the time; crucifixion. Jesus did this knowing that this was the outcome of His coming to become the Son of Man, the Son of God; should this not drive us to be devoted to Him, does this not stir up deep emotions inside of you: He came for you!

     Has your faith brought you this far? Have you come to the point where Authentic Biblical Faith has given to you authentic affection for Jesus Christ? Has the cross penetrated deeply inside of you and made cause for emotions to rise, to drive you to be used by God? When this penetrates our hearts and our minds so that we experience genuine gratitude, then we have a whole new set of resources to motivate us to follow and obey and trust Jesus Christ. It would unreasonable to attempt to follow Jesus, to leave behind all for Him, to put Him first in our lives above all others, to trust Him to our death. Yes, it would be unreasonable and our response to all that He did is to be motivated, to allow our emotions, not just outward display of emotions as some believe are justified causing them to be holy, no emotions that are so deep that the bubble out driving us to devotion and action. This is not an impossibility for residing in us is the Holy Spirit who will, if we allow Him to do so, channel our emotions that are pleasing to God, for by those emotions we come humbly before a Holy God who loves us with a love that is unmeasurable. Praise God!

Praise the LORD!

     Praise the LORD, O my soul!

While I live I will praise the LORD;

    I will sing praises to my God

while I have my being.

                            Psalm 146:1-2

God Lifts Up The Humble: Be Humble

Richard L. Crumb