Ezek 33:7 I have made you a watchman...therefore you shall hear a word from My mouth and warn them for Me.

Wednesday, March 29, 2023

Predestination and TULIP: True or False? (Part 2 of 2

 We began our study of Calvin predestination last week by looking at T=Total Depravity and U=Unconditional Election.  We found both doctrines false and unscriptural.  This week we will finish the study by looking at L I and P, rounding out the famous "TULIP" doctrine.  Here we go with the letter "L."

Limited Atonement     

This is the teaching that our Lord died only for the elect.  Many knowledgeable Calvinists do not hold to this doctrine these days. How could any Calvinist defend this idea, when there are too many Scriptures that indicate that Christ died for all.  The verses I will cover prove that God makes Christ’s atonement available to everyone.  All people have the potential of being right with God.  God wants all to be saved (see I Tim. 2:3,4 for instance).  His love does not stop with a few lucky people, arbitrarily (and capriciously) selected.  Here’s a good verse to start with, II Corinthians 5:15:

and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.

Of course, the Calvinists’ response to the above verse is, “all” doesn’t really mean “all.”  They seem to have plenty of verses that show that all doesn’t always mean all.  But what do they say to this verse—I Timothy 4:10:

 For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe.

Now if you know anything about English grammar, you can see how this word “especially” thrown in puts a damper on their doctrine.  It clearly says that Jesus died even for the "un-elect."   a

Another pair of comparison verses will prove it again, Romans 5:12, 18:

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—18 Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life.

The verses are saying, since by one man, Adam, sin and death entered and infected all men, so by one Man, Jesus, the free gift came (or was made available) to all men.  There is no way to get around the logic here.  Theologians of every stripe believe that Adam affected everybody; no man has ever been sinless their entire life since him (except Jesus).  So, likewise, Jesus’ atonement was available to every single person so infected.  If “all” means “all” in verse 12, it has to mean “all” in verse 18.  The same word does not change meaning in an obviously complementary pair of verses.  If you’re a Calvinist, the “all” in v. 12 means “all;” but the “all” in v. 18 does NOT mean all. But Paul was exact on logic—he didn’t write that verse like Calvinists want.

The third nail in the coffin of Limited Atonement is I John 2:1-2:

My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.

Calvinists like to assume, in phases "ours only" and "for the whole world" he is speaking for the saved Jews and ultimately for the Gentile saved.  But this is speculation.  When taken in context with other verses like I showed above, it leans toward this conclusion that “not for ours only” proves that Christ also died for the ultimately unsaved and everyone unborn as well.

So, how could Calvinists believe what is so easily proven to be a falsehood?  Because they love the security in their “gospel.”  The early followers of Calvin were the self-righteous civil ones, the wealthy (in an age wee your wealth was a sign of whether you were marriageable, or a sign of whether you were of good character), the ones who felt that wealth was a sign of God's beneficence and a stamp on their assurance that they were saved.  They loved feeling that their way to heaven was sure.  No religion gives more security than Calvinism.  Since that possibility was laid out by Calvin, people have flocked to it, despite its evident falsehood.  A Scripture probably applies here, II Timothy 4:3-4:

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.

Personally, this paper is an indictment of the beliefs of many of my Calvinistic friends, many of whom I believe are saved, despite believing this false doctrine.  I say that because they have testified that they seek God, have prayed for Christ to come in, and are humble in spirit, and wouldn’t say a bad word about anybody, and wouldn’t hurt a flea.  True Christianity.  But the doctrine also makes many people arrogant, unable to self-inspect, and incapable of change.  If wrapped in the cloak of a political party  they often feel that if the economy is good, and if the wealth keeps flowing in, their beliefs are continually approved by God.

Irresistible Grace    

This is the idea that if God has predestined you for heaven, and God never fails in His mission, He must successfully woo you through His Holy Spirit to accept Christ.  Calvinists obtain this doctrine partly from logic—i.e., if we are totally depraved, and if God then chooses His family, and already has eternal life with your name unconditionally on it, then it makes sense that He has to  regenerate you, so your eyes are opened, and you are led to Him. If someone seemed to accept Him, but then their lifestyle shows they later rejected Him, then the assumption they make that He elected them was wrong.  Since God cannot be wrong, we misperceived their moment of “salvation" --it didn't really exist.  God’s wooing of His elect will always be successful—it will be irresistible. And their lifestyle will prove it.

But as you can see, all this is founded upon (1) total depravity; and (2) unconditional election.  But we have disproved both of these last week, so the irresistible grace doctrine lacks its foundation of support. One of the few Scriptural verses that seem to back their doctrine is Romans 9:19:

You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?

They would say, this verse teaches that no one can resist His will.  But notice the word “then;” that means this is a continuation of a previous argument.  The previous argument, in Romans 9:10-18, was discussed under Calvin’s “unconditional  election”—which we disproved in our last blog.

As Romans 9:19ff explains, when people ask "who can resist His will?", they do not understand what God is saying.  They assume He controls everyone’s fate, so how can He judge them, or make them accountable, for their actions?  “He controls us,” they cry, and we cannot resist His choice to save or damn us.  So, they conclude, He is responsible if my actions make me hell-bound. That’s not fair, they say.

But the previous verses in Romans 9, as we showed last week, talk about foreknowledge. He simply knows ahead of time what choices people or nations make. And as we said earlier, foreknowledge does not mean control. Scripture is full of verses that still hold us accountable for sin, and how our own bad choices could make us hell-bound.  People still blame God for His ultimately judging them—they just don’t want to be held accountable before God for their actions. They consider their rebellion against God and His rules "freedom." Paul’s response to the accusatory question in v. 19 continues in Romans 9:20-29, pretty much as I’m outlining it here. The concepts are admittedly difficult, but their importance in light of our eternal destiny means we should spend time thinking and praying on it, and push through to understanding.  In the end, we should never assume God has bad intentions at heart.  It is reasonable that a sovereign eternal God, with omniscience, may do things that might be beyond our understanding.  We have to take it on faith that His love for us means that “all things work together for good” (Romans 8:28)—rather than lashing out, blaming Him when things go wrong. When we spend most of our time ignoring God, well, what can go wrong?

In summary, since this tenet of Calvinism rests on assumptions and verses that have been proven to be misinterpreted, we do not need to go further into discussion on this point.

Perseverance of the saints

This doctrine is that you cannot lose your salvation once you are "sure" you are one of the elect.  It is what “once saved, always saved” doctrine is based on.  They look at Romans 8:39:

… nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

To dispute this, I would like to mention November's  blogs on Calvinism and John Calvin himself. I would like to add some fresh words from Thomas Taylor Ministries:

The Bible is very clear that it is possible to lose one’s salvation and every Christian should be aware of that possibilityHeb 10:26 – 31 explains it:

For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfootcounted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace30 For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

One attack that Calvinists use on this statement is, How does the verse say we were once saved when the word “saved” is not even used?  Our answer is:  It uses the phrase “received the knowledge of the truth;” that’s salvation. So, the verses are clearly saying that once saved, it’s possible (but disastrous) to fall back to be like the world, despising again what God has done.  He has given us access to salvation by His Son, which we would be rejecting again, thus trampling it underfoot; we would be despising Communion, which means we were symbolically taking His blood that was shed for us--and now reject; and we would be turning away from the power of sanctification, this method of freedom from the slavery of sin--that is only offered to His children.  Of course, we critically need to understand the phrase “sin willfully” that brings about these disasters from God. We're thinking "I know this is a serious sin that God hates, but I'm going to do it anyway; my pleasure trumps my concern over what God thinks." This is a brazen, broken relationship with God. Look at the words, “fearful expectation of judgment,” “fiery indignation,” “devour the adversaries,” too.  Do these not describe the anger of God, the pit of hell for these people?  Do these not prostrate us, cause us to ask, “God, what are you saying here? Have I sinned willfully?” Sincere repentance after doing so can gain God's favor again. (We have to be careful that we really “repent.” Study Scripture for what it is.) We should confess to Him regularly.

Now let's look at another phrase of importance: What is “falling away?” My own thought on defining is,  The Bible speaks of “hardening of the heart.”  That implies that doing a sin, even if you repent, and doing it over again, you likely experience hardening of the heart.  If you keep repeating the sin, eventually you don’t even believe yourself when you “repent”—and eventually you stop “repenting,” because you know that you’ll do the sin again, and you realize you’re a hypocrite for pretending to repent.  If you sin over and over and do not really improve (by sinning less or not doing it further) after you were saved,  and you enjoy the sin too much to resist, and give in, and repeatedly squelch the Holy Spirit--you are unlikely to be saved anymore. But that depends on how bad the sin was.  (Sorry, I'm not giving you the "security" that everyone wants). Thus you can lose your salvation, and your “perseverance” ends without repentance.  And Calvinism is wrong because this downslide happens somewhere in America frequently.  I’ve seen it, and I’ve heard people testify of it. God hates us giving in to sin lightly.  Think of Jesus' discussion in Matthew 5:29-30:

If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.

This is called "hyperbole."  Jesus doesn't expect us to go blind.  But He's making a point of the seriousness, how we could lose our salvation, and I think the grisly image will do the job.  Now, thinking about “falling away;” it so happens that this is the definition of apostasy.  In order to “fall away” from something, you had to be attached to that something, right?  So to “fall away” from the truth, you had to be attached to the truth in the first place.  Logically, that says this person was initially saved—but fell away and became unsaved.  Perhaps it also could be they came to rejecting the intellectual truths of Scripture, but preferred to conjure up doctrines to live by instead, or preferred to live by heretical beliefs of religions that aren’t even close to the Apostle’s Creed—which is the unalterable creed of a real Christian. They could, on the other hand, fall away into the world as well (some Christians call this “backsliding”). But if you’re so ensnared with the world, God cannot keep you; you must realize the danger, and try like crazy to disassociate from it. He requires that you live holy.  Assuming you've made public your attachment to Christ, you carry a light, and you must separate from the world’s culture, lest you drag His name through the mud with your sinful activities.  You would be putting Christ to an "open shame," as the verse says. And once again, you lose the salvation you once had.    So, more proof that there is no guarantee of our “perseverance,” like we can float along and not worry about sin. Calvinism is wrong for instituting such pride or complacency.

So there you have it, all 5 points of Calvinism are separated from Scriptural proof.  For those who are “3-point Calvinists,” or “4 point Calvinists,” or the hard-as-a-rock “5-point Calvinists,” it’s best to just be a “no-point” Calvinist. Just be a close follower of Jesus' Words. Learn to read your Scripture with discernment, taking ALL of it into account.  These tenets are un-Scriptural and wrong.  Its leader, John Calvin, might not have been a saved man.  (see a November blog).  Don’t just “go with the flow” of your denomination's beliefs, or consider them all unquestionable. Are you uncomfortable about feeling disloyal, or don't want to be apart from the crowd?  What if it causes the loss of heaven?   Who deserves your loyalty?  Only Jesus, not your deluded friends.  Do not other denominations have different doctrines as well?  Can we assume that all their followers are stupid?  Find the doctrine of Christ.  The question of heaven or hell is too important for this quibbling.  Read Scripture thoroughly, with meditation.  Spend time studying this—avoiding hell is worth it.

Acknowledging again the sermon of pastor Anderson, Five points of Calvinism Refuted, in 2013.  He was brief on these latter points, he was running out of time.  His ideas in Part 2 have also been softened, edited, and summarized, and much of mine added.

Thursday, March 23, 2023

Predestination and TULIP: True or False?

 More churches are preaching Calvinism.  This system of beliefs is a long-time canon of the Presbyterian, the Reformed, and the United Church of Christ doctrines, and is an important tenet in about half the Baptist churches.  Most megachurches preach it, and most evangelical authors believe it.  It is a growing phenomenon among evangelical churches, according to a New York Times article (January 3, 2014).  But what is Calvinism?

The doctrine was created by John Calvin, who lived in the 16th century.  Its primary theses are summarized in the word TULIP.

T=Man’s Total Depravity

U=God’s Unconditional Election

L=Christ’s Limited Atonement

I=The Holy Spirit’s Irresistible Grace

P=Preservation of the saints

I would like to summarize each in turn, as Calvinists see them.

Total Depravity, according to Calvinists, means mankind has no desire, or, more importantly, no ability, to approach God for salvation from his sin, which prevent God from admitting him in heaven--without help.  Man has no free will.  Man is spiritually dead, and is not interested—even cannot—be born again or accept Christ.  Consequently, the only way he can be saved is for God to take the initiative. Not from friends, nor evangelists.  The seed they attempt to sow falls on a dead plain.  God has to initiate.

Unconditional Election means God made a choice to save certain people before they were even born, without regard for any future works of theirs, good or evil, being part of His decision about who would go to heaven, who would go to hell.  They were “predestined” for their final destination. The people He chose for heaven was a totally arbitrary move on His part; the decision was made before they were born. Those who would be ultimately saved were the "elect."

Limited Atonement:  Jesus did not die for everyone; only for His ultimately saved elect people.

Irresistible Grace:  God’s action to save a person who is predestined for heaven cannot be resisted by that person.  Since they were elected, and predestined to enter heaven, God will not have His choice denied.

Perseverance of the saints:  God keeps His people so they can never be lost.  Once you are saved, you are always saved.

I would like to comment on each of these points, proving that they are not taught in Scripture.  On several point, Scripture teaches the opposite, in fact. (I have another blog on John Calvin, if you’d like to know what manner of man he was.)

Total Depravity

Several of Calvin’s doctrines teach that man does not have a free choice.  Calvinism teaches that man cannot approach God; God has to approach man.  Abundant Scriptures dispute this. Consider Revelation 22:17:

And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.

 As the verse implies, "let him who thirsts...desires, take the water," we can have a desire for Christ and see our need because of our sin. The original King James says “Whosoever will…take the water of life…”  That means “whosoever wills their mind to it, or “whosoever has a desire to…” God would not call us like this, unless we can respond.  To think otherwise would be a cruel hoax on God's part.  It’s our choice.  We have the power to will ourselves to turn to God. In Deuteronomy 30:19 God says, “Choose life.”  Joshua 24:15 says,  “Choose this day whom you will serve; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”   In John 5:40 Jesus says,

 But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.

 Would Jesus have said that if it were impossible to do, if we presumably are not able?  Of course not.

Calvinists love to cite John 6:44:

No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.

There, they say, the Father must draw us first.  But they fail to mention John 12:32, which explains what Jesus meant by being “drawn.”

And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.

His crucifixion (and resurrection) does the drawing.  Not some choice God made before we were born. Also, note the importance of that little word “all.”  Truly a non-Calvin word.

Calvinists have another pair of favorite verses, John 12:39-40:

Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again: 40 “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts,
Lest they should see with their eyes,
Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,
So that I should heal them.”

 Folks, the idea that God blinds our eyes or erects obstacles to people wanting to be saved from their sin is slander to His character. Let’s not forget II Peter 3:9 about God’s love for us and His wonderful desire for our fellowship:

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

So what is the meaning of, “He has blinded their eyes?”  Quite possibly, this word is Jew-specific.  The Jews had proven, by earlier chapters in John (like chapters 7 and 8) that they blinded their own eyes. They hated Jesus from the start.  He disrupted the system. The phrase “He has blinded” probably means God often sets us in a circumstance that lets us see or make public which side we’re on.  If we choose against Christ in such a test, it is the choice we do on our own. What He is doing is, He will not just let us drift into hell without a display to ourselves of where we stand. If we don't want to see it at that point, that's on us.  Such a test is to our own benefit because it hopefully makes us think of our choice, and hopefully change our mind at some point, or makes us fear judgment if we see that we are in rebellion to Christ.

So, we conclude that God would not blind our eyes, without us blinding Him.  He would love it if ALL would be saved; that’s the patient desire of His heart.

Or, consider Romans 1, where people that are reprobate have blinded vision.  Plenty of Jews were (and, sadly, are) in that category. Here's another verse:  When Calvinists read Ephesians 2:8-9:

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

 They think that faith is the gift of God. And, of course, they then assume God provides the faith—nothing we initiate.  Well, to dispute this, any Greek student who studies grammar will tell you that the sentence is set up so that grace is the gift of God. Yes, His grace is not of ourselves.  But God provides grace to everyone, not just “the elect.” True, we, under this definition,  cannot boast that we did something to earn God’s grace. But this is separate from having to make a choice to put our faith in Jesus.

On a side note, Calvinists argue that the words “free will” are not used in the Bible in connection of salvation.  But the term is used 17 times in connection of offerings that we make to God, which we voluntarily give.  That is a model of God’s intention.  He does not like robots.  He desires that we give ourselves to Him voluntarily, of our free will.

Unconditional Election

This is the Calvinist idea that God chose some of us to be saved, and His determination did not require any prior action of good works on our part; (they assume that we would claim to "deserve" salvation).  It was unconditional love for the elect on His part (and unconditional bad news for the rest of humanity who were not so chosen. In effect, God chose them for hell). To dispute this, consider Romans 10:9:

…if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

Well, does that place conditions on us to be saved?  Of course.  On the other hand, if God is making you open your mouth, and making you believe what He wants you to believe, then we would truly be robots.  And we’ve already disputed that.

The favorite verses for this belief for Calvinists are Romans 9:10-18:

…when Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac 11 (for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls), 12 it was said to her, “The older shall serve the younger.” 13 As it is written, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated. 14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! 15 For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” 16 So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.”18 Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.

Calvinism tries to claim that Jacob was chosen to be saved by God’s election, unconditionally, beforehand--and Esau was not so chosen. But this is a New Testament quote from the Old Testament.  Let’s look back, as we should always do, to get context, at the original Scriptures. We will find that the subject here is NOT salvation—and it is not even about Jacob or Esau!  The first quote, “the older shall serve the younger” (see v. 12 above), was from Genesis 25:23.  Here is the original verse:

And the Lord said to her (Rebekah, Isaac’s wife): “Two nations are in your womb, Two peoples shall be separated from your body; One people shall be stronger than the other, And the older shall serve the younger.”

 With the words “nations,” and “peoples” (twice), we see God is not talking about Jacob or Esau, but about their tribes of descendants.  A very important find. You see, in later Scripture in Genesis, we don’t find Esau serving Jacob at any point (in fact, at one point, Jacob bows to him and gives him gifts).  But we do see that the nation Israel (from Jacob) dominates over the nation Edom (from Esau).  Thus, this entire quote is about nations. That’s what prophetically came true. Importantly, God can choose one nation to dominate over another without defying His rules on individual salvation.

The second quote, “Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated,” (v. 13 above) is found in Malachi 1:2-3.  For context again, let’s take a look back, again, at the original:

"I have loved you,” says the Lord. “Yet you say, ‘In what way have You loved us?’ Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” Says the Lord. “Yet Jacob I have loved; But Esau I have hated, And laid waste his mountains and his heritage For the jackals of the wilderness.”

Here again, the completion of the sentence put a whole different meaning on it:  it refers to “mountains and his heritage”—thus, again, the nation, the descendants of Esau, are in view, not Esau himself.  Consider also, the name Esau means "hairy;" and the word Edom (the nation) means "red." So he and the nation's DNA were red-haired folks.  The words are tied together.  So when you use the name, you could be referring to the ascendant of the nation.  Thus, there is no clear evidence that God hated the man Esau.  And thus, God does not doom a man before he is even born or “save” a man before he is born.  Thus, His election in the Calvinistic manner of defining it does not stand. The Romans 9 verses, so loved by Calvinists, does not really say what they want it to say.  The salvation of Jacob or Esau is not at issue as they think.  To me, the answer is pretty clear:  It simply makes no sense in God's character to say that He hated someone before they were born.

Let’s just talk a little about what brings about salvation in the Old Testament; Isaac was born of Abraham’s faith in God’s promise.  It took faith to believe that they could have a son, since they were too old.  Isaac was also born to a free woman, Abraham’s wife Sarah. Ishmael was born of a slave woman, born of Abraham’s weakness of the flesh.

Isaac, to show his faith, took a wife from God’s chosen people; Ishmael took a pagan wife.  As you can see, they made choices. Faith in God produced salvation in the Old Testament.

God simply foreknew that Esau’s descendants would hate God, and worship idols (which is the case); so He chose the nation Israel to carry His Commandments and Old Covenant to the world, so people could see their sin before His judgment.

Let’s talk more about the big elephant in the room, the major flaw in Calvin's theology: how could God “un-elect,” and send a man to hell before he is even born?  That’s what the election of a few, and thus the rejection of the majority, means. Such a thing is not His character, folks!  All of His Word tells of His patience for all to turn to Him; He wants us to make a free choice.

For a Scriptural definition of predestination, look at Romans 8:29-30:

For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

 Note how it doesn’t begin as “whom He predestined, He foreknew...”  It starts with His foreknowledge.  What is foreknowledge?  God is the master of time; He knows what every person in the world will do all their lives in all of history—before any of it happens. An incredible feat.  What’s even neater, for us, is that He will inject Himself personally into our lives at just the right moment, doing everything with a goal of having us see His love for us and hopefully having us see the failure of the cultures of the broken world to keep us happy.  Yes, He knew before we were born which of us would be saved.  But foreknowledge does not mean that God was in control of our decision. He watched and wooed through time. He could see ahead of time that some of us would accept Jesus as Lord and Savior.  As a result, we were predestined for heaven. But even though He knew this before we were born, He never made the choice for us.  He directs outside activity to help all of us lean His way, but some people still reject Him; and ultimately He has to watch us make a choice—for good or bad.  Our election is our own.

Acknowledgement:  The sermon of pastor Anderson, Five points of Calvinism Refuted, in 2013, has been softened, edited, and summarized. We've covered TU. See next week for the "LIP" of TULIP in Calvinism.

Saturday, March 18, 2023

The Kingdom of God and the Mind of Christ in the Beatitudes

 Salvation is not the end of God’s design for our lives; it is a means to an end.  The end is to be a functioning member of the Kingdom of God.  We must move away from a “Save Me” religion, which is wanting something for me—rather, it should be something that God wants--a kingdom, ruled by His children.

The best definition of the Kingdom is in the Lord’s Prayer:  “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven…”  We want God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.  How is God’s will done in heaven?  We have a very beautiful picture in Isaiah 6, where he is telling us that King Uzziah died.  He was a good king, reigned for 52 years, one of the more powerful kings of Judah—the nation did many great things under him.  Isaiah placed great confidence in him.  But the king became very proud, and decided to reach out and become a priest as well (forbidden in Israeli religion).  When he made the offering in the temple, God struck him with leprosy. And from then to the end of his life, the prophet Isaiah had to hear this man whom he had admired, shouting repeatedly outside the congregation “Unclean! Unclean!” That was a requirement in their law.

God knew the sadness Isaiah had, but He wanted to teach Isaiah that we should place limited confidence in Man. Only in God.  So He gave Isaiah a vision—he saw the Lord high and lifted up, and the train of his garment filled the temple. He made Isaiah see reality--the greatness of God, much more than the greatness of Uzziah.  Then he saw the seraphim—and that’s where we get a picture of how God’s will is done in heaven. The word seraphim literally means “burners;” fiery, copper-colored creatures, burning in their zeal to do whatever God said. They had six wings.  Wings were drawn across their faces, their feet, and there were wings ready to fly.  That’s how God’s will is done in heaven—promptly, with passion, without question—and with humility.  Isaiah then cried, “Woe is me.”  Here is probably the holiest man in Israel saying, “I am nothing.”  That’s the attitude that we need to perform God’s will on earth.  In heaven, we’re going to love Him and develop the same attitude the seraphim had.  And Isaiah saw that he was far from that, as we all are.

Romans 12:3 says we ought to be transformed by the renewing of our mind.  Did you ever notice what is the first evidence of the renewed mind?  Read  the following verses carefully:

And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed  by the renewing of your mind...for I say through the grace given to me,… not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think.”

That is the first evidence of a Spirit-filled and renewed mind—to have a proper view of ourselves, unaffected by pride or secrets. We're thinking of our need to be humble.  After all, humility ought to be a prominent theme of the Lord’s people.  Think of Jesus washing the feet of His disciples. He taught us to be humble. We want to have the mind of Christ.

Philippians 2 has more to say on this topic, telling us that we are to have His mind, then telling us what the mind of Jesus was like.  Five things happened in His Incarnation.  (1) He didn’t think it was something He had to hang onto, to be equal with God—although that was the noble position he was used to. He was willing to step down to reconcile humanity.  Mankind thinks the opposite—once you reach a certain level, you’ll do most anything to at least hold your position.  Jesus was at the very top—and He didn’t find it necessary to keep that.  He stripped Himself of all the privileges and dignity and deity; “he emptied Himself.”  This is before He ever left heaven. And then (2) He would become God’s servant.  God will give the orders; Jesus was going to fulfill them. Through seven chapters of John (4 through 10), we have that picture.  We have something in every one of those chapters that says, “I don’t do anything but what my Father tells me.”  This was humility.  Before, He and His Father had always done things together. And now He chooses to become a slave, as it were.  (3) And then He became a man.  I don’t think we can imagine the step down to do that; maybe it would be like us becoming a mouse.  But this was a much bigger step down.    Jesus prayed, As He approached His crucifixion, Hebrews tells us that God would deliver His soul from death.  From the tomb.  Why?  He had come to the most dangerous part of His earthly existence—after all this mistreatment, could He avoid having a bitter thought, or saying an angry word?  If he did, He would have stayed in that grave.  He begged God to give Him victory, to come out of that experience and resurrect His body.  Since He was 100% man (as well as 100% God), since He endured the temptations that we all face, when He came down to be a man, He took a great risk. (4) As a man, He renounced His heavenly position.  He didn’t come as a king, or a priest; He was constantly faced with the accusatory question, “By what authority do you do this?”  He came as an ordinary person. (5) He allowed His creation to kill him.  That wouldn’t have been so bad if it were a heroic death, with at least "Taps" playing, or his name sketched on a wall, or buried somewhere special.  But it was the death on the cross—the most ignominious death that anybody could suffer.

So here we have Jesus—who went from the absolute top to the absolute bottom—by choice.  It wasn’t, like, "no way out," it was a voluntary humbling.  He chose this.  This is the mind of Christ.  He modeled humility, obedience, and self-humbling.  People, we should always take the “low road” of humility—that’s always the right road.

As Philippians says, because He did this, God highly exalted Him.  Scripture says to us, “he that humbles himself, God will exalt him.”  That’s a promise.  God will take care of your reputation--in heaven, where it counts eternally.

Now let’s move from the mind of Christ to how Jesus acted in His kingdom.  Matthew 5, the Beatitudes, shows how He exemplified the kingdom in His experience.  Many phrases begin with “Blessed.” What does that word mean?—to be envied.  God is backing up each of these behaviors with tremendous promise; and to place yourself in His will, means He will pour out His promise on us—this is the best place to be.

The first character is: “Blessed are the poor in spirit.”  This means we desire to learn—able to get down off our high horse, lay aside all prejudices, all biases, and sit there like a child—and learn. By reading Scripture with fresh eyes, by meditating on it. Most people can’t do that.  Louis Pasteur discovered the germ theory of disease.  They didn’t even know about germs.  Many people died of infection, since doctors and nurses wouldn’t even wash their hands going to surgery, or from one patient to another.  But despite all his data proving the lowered mortality where simple washing of hands were done, Dr. Pasteur couldn’t convince any of them, and he was heartbroken.  Going to all the trouble of washing, washing, washing was stupid, they said.  They were educated! You are only a chemist.  “We are doctors!  We have been trained—you have not. You are not going to tell us.”  Folks, you won’t get into the kingdom until that attitude is done.  Did you know Jesus was a learner?  You didn’t think He had to learn anything, did you? He had to learn what it felt like in flesh to obey, when you're tired, when you are in pain.  And all who follow Him are learners, ready to obey—no matter what it costs.  Dismiss your preconceptions.  Learn.

“Blessed are they that mourn.” The Bible says that some won’t see the kingdom of God; but once you want Christ, you get a whole new set of eyes.  You begin to really see the world—and you’re not laughing anymore at its jokes.  You’re not laughing anymore at its sitcoms, which picture no real family, or stupid fathers (or no fathers, or gay parents), or its version of hypocritical preachers.  That’s how they think of God's laws.  That stuff’s not funny anymore.  I heard a sermon that somebody can tell what you are by seeing what you cry about.  Most people cry about their own problems; you will be crying about the needs of your heart, and the needs of the world.  Sam Hadley was the leader of the Bowery Mission.  He had been a drunk on the street and had been converted and now was the leader of the Mission.  One evening he had Charles Alexander, who was the singer for Billy Sunday, come to the Mission to sing. After the meeting, Charles Alexander said, “I would like to see the Bowery.”  So Sam Hadley took him in his car around to all its places.  Afterwards, Sam said goodbye.  Charles Alexander walked around the corner.  And just as he got around the corner, he thought he heard somebody cry. As he turned around and walked back, there was Sam Hadley, leaning against a lamp post, saying “Oh, God!  The sin of this city breaks my heart!” He couldn’t contain his crying.  That’s the attitude you will have toward the world, the broken world you live in, all its shortcomings.  Learn about how people are treated in countries besides your own.  It's an eye-opener.  Your reaction should not be just thanking God you were born in a country that treats people this way.  You would have your own sorrow for your inability to make many things better immediately.  But the Word says you will be comforted; you will begin to see results—if you respond in that way to your own sin, and the sins of the world. You’ll see healing, and changes take place.

“Blessed are the meek.”  Meek people are gentle.  They’re mild.  They’re harmless. The Word says we should be, “wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.” They’re strong people, but it’s strength under discipline. They don’t ever lash out, they don’t hurt other people.  They use their strength in other ways.   A strong man who sets down beside that little boy, and teaches him or her with patience; that’s a picture of meekness. You can afford to be meek, I’ll tell you why.  If you’re part of the Kingdom, the universe is on your side.  In the Old Testament, you remember Sisera?  He came charging down over those hills, with his iron chariots, and there was the Israeli standing army.  He thought, “This is a lead-pipe cinch,” but there was a thunderstorm upstream, and the whole valley was flooded, and his chariots got stuck, and he got exhausted or chased, ran into the tent of Jael, went to sleep, and she drove a stake through his head…and he was dead.  You know what the Bible says?  “The stars from their courses fought against Sisera.”  (Judges 4:12-23; 5:20).  Now, if you’re against the God who directs the universe, you’re not going to win.  But you can afford to be meek, because the whole universe is behind you.  You will win, because God’s Kingdom will not fail.  So you can afford not to "get even" with people, and manipulate to make your “program” work.  Just let it go. And do what’s right. You’re not a weakling. But you will not force, you will not hurt, you will not use those kind of tactics on anybody. Remember the promise for being meek:  “And they shall inherit the earth.”  After Christ, slavery disappeared in the Roman Empire; and all the Christians did was obey the Gospel.  It was done without any violence.

Next. “Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness.” We’re talking about being right. You will be blessed because that is what you were made for.  You are not constitutionally made, or physically made to hate, or have anger, or revenge.  You were made to love. What is it to be merciful?  To feel pain when others have pain.  The word for compassion literally means, the spleen.  If you have a deep deep concern for someone who is in trouble, your digestive system will tell you about it.

“Blessed are the pure in heart.”  Those who are sold out for God; their heart of desire has nothing else in it--just desire for God.  This person will see God.  They will really learn to know who God is.  There are lots of people who have real problems with God—but if they purify their hearts, they can really know Him and His love.  He is benevolent, gracious, extravagant.

“Blessed are the peacemakers.”  To be just like God.  He is a peacemaker.  Think of Ephesians 1:10:  “that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him.” If there is any place that you experience a problem, you will have a passion to reconcile.

And finally, “Blessed are the persecuted.”  That is where the greatest power that is ever on this earth is released—when a person suffers for Christ.  Martyrs often rejoiced at death's door, for they understood something we don’t understand.  When the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of the world clashes, something supernatural is going to happen.

May God help us to develop these characters, truly following our Savior—and helping to build His Kingdom.

Acknowledgement:  This is a Summary of speech from John M. Martin, the Anabaptist Identity Conference, 2010, Florida

Thursday, March 9, 2023

Revelation 12: The Final Antichrist and Some of His History

Let’s learn a little more about the Last Days; after all, we may be in it!

I say that because II Thessalonians 2:1-3 says it, for those genuine Christians at that time:

Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled…. as though the day of Christ had come.Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition

Paul is introducing this thought—and chapter--by saying….“concerning the coming of…Christ”  The word “coming” is the Greek word “parousia,” so he means the rapture. They were troubled, thinking they had missed it, which a fake letter said. He reassures them by saying that they had not missed the rapture, called here the “day of Christ.” The rapture will not come until the “man of sin, the son of perdition”-–the antichrist is “revealed.”

But Daniel 9:27 clearly says that that man makes a covenant with the Jews, of 7 years, and in the middle he reveals who he really is—a Jew-hater and Christian-hater.  That clearly says there is no rapture before the 7 years.  At best, it is in the middle, after 3-1/2 years.  Much suffering already at that point.  (I believe it’s at the end, and have 3 blogs, upcoming, to continue to prove it).

There are those who assert that the day of Christ is not referred to here, but the Day of the Lord—which is not the rapture, but the “third” appearance by the Lord at the end of the 7 years, is implied.  Of course, Christ doesn’t come three times (Incarnation, the “rapture,” the “kingdom” return).  Scripture only refers to one “return” of the Lord.  This is false doctrine, comforting but untrue.

Now let’s return to our main thoughts.  Jesus’ Olivet message, Matthew 24, is His final message on the end of the world.   It is comprehensive—it draws from almost every portion of Old and New Testament. I can’t cover all of that in this blog, but I will focus on Revelation 12, on the same subject, which is particularly difficult to interpret. Satan is a big player in Revelation 12, so let’s focus a little on his origin in here too.

As the end of the world gets closer, the world gets darker. As Jesus says in Matthew 24:12, “lawlessness will abound, and the love of many will grow cold.

I Timothy 4:1 tells us that at the end of days, people will be so far from the Lord that….

…in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons

“Some will depart from the faith” says that people who believe they are saved and are Christian will abandon it under persecution pressure.  How can they do this?  They lose heaven, as Scripture clearly points out. Yet evil forces will deceive them.  Evil forces rule the world.  1 John 5:19:

We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one

But God is sovereign, and His plan will carry out.  Do you feel that the “whole world lies in the path of the evil one?”  If not, then you are not sensitive to how God grieves over our sin.  Sins are now on display in society today. The real meaning of “love,” particularly love  to God, is lost to most. Too many couples have no idea of faithfulness, and get divorces.  It’s almost impossible to watch new movies without hearing an abundance of language blaspheming God. The media is no help:  Women danced nearly nude at the recent Grammies. At a Barnes and Noble store recently, a group of students came by just to browse, but their attention became focused on a wall full of occult phenomena books.  They have an attraction for the unexplained powers—but not for the supernatural in the Bible, which they just dismiss as fantasy.  Well, demons will fill their interest, since the Bible says there will  miraculous powers by people sold out to Satan. As Matthew 24:24 says:

…false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

They are controlled by demons; their purpose is, by showing off mysterious powers, people will question their faith in the real God, and follow these miracle workers.  As a result, they might abandon their faith in Christ as Savior.  Remember, all the powers in this universe, apart from the true and living God, are from the devil.

Let’s go back to where the battle between God and the devil and his demons first began.  Starting in Revelation 12:3, 4, and 13 we see the reason why Satan, in the last days, increased his hate and persecution of the Jews:

…a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child…

The dragon is the serpent, the devil--Satan—which means Adversary.    From the garden of Eden to the Book of Job, to the one trying to make Jesus throw Himself down, it’s the same person.  The dragon used to be a favorite angel of God; he was the supreme angel of light.  He was called Lucifer, which means light-bearer. The “stars” refer to angels.

All the angels were created before mankind was created. Job 38:4, 7 proves that.  God is “dressing down” Job, and says:

Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding…When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy?

The ”stars” and  “sons of God” refer to angels. They saw, and rejoiced over, the creation in Genesis 1-2. But God gave them a choice to choose Him or be an adversary.  So this particular angel, Lucifer, chose evil.  He developed pride. From Isaiah 12:12ff:

How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north  I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.

That’s when he became Satan.  He was kicked out of heaven for his pride.  But Satan still had access to God, which he turned to his new self-appointed position as accuser of the brethren before God.  In Job 1 he tells God that Job is weak; he only “loves” God because Job was wealthy.  So God let Satan take away Job’s worldly pleasures—and we read that despite his questions and lack of understanding, he refused to blaspheme God.  Here are Job 1:6-10:

Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. And the Lord said to Satan,  “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?” So Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for nothing? 10 Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!”

Satan’s challenge was a failure, since Job never gave up God.  But he keeps trying, because he is at war.  He knew he needed help.  So he convinced one-third of the angels to follow his rebellious plan against God. That’s what’s happening in the “tail” action in Revelation 12:4 above. These bad angels became demons. His goal was to kill the Child (Jesus Christ),  since he knew Jesus was God.  Even better, he wanted to “get him" in advance, by obliterating the Jewish race or Christ’s lineage, since Scripture says His incarnation would come from the Jews (Genesis 49:10).  That’s why he “persecuted the woman” in Rev. 12:4 above, since she, representing Israel, will produce the Child, which is Jesus the Son of God.  But that early effort to kill Jesus’ forebears  failed, since God always protected a remnant of Jews; so Jesus was born through them.  Though he saw to it that Jesus was killed, His death was turned to the good by paying for our sins, so that we who obey Him can have access to heaven, despite our sin.  And Jesus surprised Satan with His resurrection.  Then after 40 days on earth, He then went to be with His Father.

In end times, Satan will be removed totally from his access to God and thrown to earth, as you see in Revelation 12:4 above, and in vv7-9, which is also foretelling this in the future:

And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him…..for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.

Satan knows that, after “being fired” a second time, kicked out of his “accuser access,” that will be his signal that the end is near, so he will fix his base on earth, to torture mankind more intensively than ever before—Jews first.  His first well-known act in end times will be to introduce to the world, the Antichrist.  This man will be possessed of Satan so much, that he knows full well of Satan’s thoughts, his great desire to lie and kill. So all of Satan will be in him.  He makes friends with the Jews first, deceiving them, promising to bring them peace, making a 7-year covenant.  That 7 years, however, is known as the Great Tribulation, spoken of in great detail in Revelation 6.  But in the middle, after 3-1/2 years, he surprise-attacks Jerusalem, killing as many of the Jews as he will find.  But God has warned the Jews in Scripture (see Matthew 24), so some will be given a way of escape for the second-half 3-1/2 years while the antichrist begins torturing and killing them unmercifully.  This false covenant and persecution was also predicted in Daniel 9:27:

He will confirm a covenant for the many during one seven. In the middle of the seven, he will cause sacrifice and offering to cease. On the wing of abominations is one who causes desolation, until the decreed end is poured out on the one who causes desolation.

“He” is Satan in the form of the antichrist. “The many” is Israel.  The “seven” in this verse, is the length of the Great Tribulation, 7 years. In the “middle,” after 3-1/2 years of peace to Israel, he shows who he really is—a hater of God and of His holy place, which will be restored in Jerusalem. He will enter the holy of holies and blaspheme it, perhaps with an idol of himself, causing its desolation.

Satan has tried many ways to kill the woman (the state of Israel, the Jews); but despite an intensified effort in the upcoming day of the antichrist, in the last days, it is prophesied, that God will allow many of the nation of Israel to escape and hide, as I mentioned above. Here is Revelation 12:3-6, summarizing this. The 1260 days is 3-1/2 years.

And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born. She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne. Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.

But he has failed, and will fail to totally obliterate Israel--or the Jew in “diaspora” (separated from the land).

Failing to kill all the Jews,  he changes his strategy by renewing his attacks on Israel’s “offspring,” the Christians. In Revelation 12:13:

And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Now the focus of his intense persecution will be on us—the Gentiles.  Can we take it and be faithful to our Lord?  Considering His sacrifice for our sin, placing some of us in God’s family,  that is the least that we can do.  May God help us, if those last days are in our lifetimes, that we will, in times of chaos and confusion, seek Thy Word as the only source of truth and knowledge.  We must endure to the end, depending only on our God, to make it to heaven.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday, March 2, 2023

Are the Christian God and Allah the Muslim god the same? Look at their Scripture for the Answer

 Islam is touted as being a peaceful religion.  "Only the fanatics go around killing people," they say.  The god of Muslims, Allah, is also endorsed  as being the same god as the Christian God.  "We must tolerate everyone's path to heaven," they say.  But that is not the case, as I will show clearly. After I talk about their founder, Muhammad, I will compare their god with Our God—and ask you:  Which is worthy of worship?

 
Let’s start with the life of Muhammad, the one who brought us the  Muslim religion.  He was born in 570 AD.  Orphaned as a small child, he lived mostly with his uncle.  As an adult, he had physical disorders, and spent much time alone.  At age 40, the angel “Gabreel” visited him and dictated the Quran, he believed, so he began proselytizing.  Believing Middle Easterners considered him the last of God’s prophets.  Followers recorded his statements, called the Hadiths.  The Hadiths were the basis for sharia law.  He became involved in bloody military campaigns, by which he unified the Saudi peninsula and converted people to Islam, all at the point of the sword.  He died, presumably, in 632 AD.
 
That’s the bland treatment.  Now let’s get to the real facts.  Muhammad was born four years after his named father died, which means somebody is lying about who is his father.  But this birth actually happened, Muslim “scholars” say, because the time of pregnancy can be six months to five years.  Sure.  This is what they do to make his birth legitimate. Muhammad’s named parents were idol-worshipers.  When Muhammad was in his mother’s womb, she says that “light came out of me.”  Muhammad said he asked Allah, the name of his god, to forgive his mother, when she died. But he says Allah told him He refused.  So Muhammad asserted that his mother is in hell.  (Anger issues). The real problem is, she didn’t believe in him as prophet of a true religion. So he got back by slandering--that's one way to get retribution.  Actually, Muhammad did not prophesy a single future event, so he was not really a prophet.  The Quran, which was supposedly  dictated from the angel Gabreel, is filled with errors and hatred. We will focus on it. The Hadiths, Muhammad's statements, had even more egregious errors, as we will show in the few that we use.  Muslims have a process called "nullification," whereby their two sacred scriptures named above, if they are contradictory, it was decided to accept the most recent version--and change the other.  Quite a convenience for "sacred" scripture.
 
Muhammad had epileptic fits beginning at age five.  He was a shepherd and merchant.  He had at least 13 wives and numerous concubines--though the Quran tries to “limit” the proper wife count for a man to four total (it doesn’t limit concubines, by the way).  The purpose of one of his marriages was for her to watch over his third and favorite wife, Aisha, whom he married when she was six years old! He was 51 at the time of that marriage!
 
Thus, Muhammad was a pedophile, a child molester.  Muslim scholars say, he did not penetrate her until she was nine, so for sure he was admirably “self-controlled”-but still a pedophile.  Muslims also say that Saudi Arabia, with high climatic temperatures, mature girls at an earlier age, so Aisha didn't really think like a nine-year-old.  Right.  Actually, though, the Quran backs up early marriage.  In sura 65:4, to determine if a girl or woman is pregnant, (to determine if she has stopped menstruation), scripture says “…if you doubt, the prescribed waiting time is three months,  as well as for those who have not yet begun menstruation.”  So the Quran permitted marriage and pregnancy for child brides.  Muhammad also married his son’s wife after their divorce.  For yet another wife, Muhammad killed her father, brother, and Jewish husband.  Then he took her as wife and had sex with her the same night after he murdered her family!
 
Muhammad repeatedly committed the sin of adultery with Mary, a Coptic woman (a sect of Christianity).  In all reality, since he was considered a great prophet, the Quran gave him a total pass on his lust.  In sura 33:50:  “A believing woman (which she wasn't), if she gives herself to the prophet, if the prophet desires to have sex with her, this is a "privilege" (for her)…that there be no shame  on your (ed., the woman's) part.  And Allah was forgiving, merciful.”  Thus, she can be single or married, it didn’t matter, if you had sex with a great prophet like the lustful Muhammad, you're supposed to appreciate it and not feel any guilt.
Keep in mind that Muslim scholars, who insisted in their later English “translations” (or “re-translations”) of the Quran, that in his lust for single women, they modified the wording to presume his marriage to them came first.  Don’t believe them.
 
Another interesting case was how Muhammad proved his prophethood, when he was “visited” by the angel Gabreel.  He was, as was often the case, spending time in solitary, in a cave.  But one day, scared of a spirit he saw, and convinced it was a demon,  he ran out to his wife.  She told him to sit on her thighs, and asked, three times, “Do you see the spirit now?”  He answered “Yes.”   Then she uncovered and exposed herself, and asked it again.  This time the answer was “No.”   She concluded it was an angel and not a demon, because angels would not be in the presence of uncovered women.  They did not consider the distinct possibility that it was indeed a demon, who knew enough about a superstitious custom to disappear at the right time.
 
His first 13 years of preaching the message in Mecca was a failure. That’s because he used a peaceful method to present it.  He had 72 followers at the end of that effort.  Most of his Arab neighbors, tired of his proselytizing, began to torment him. So he and his few followers had to move to Medina.   He then threatened to kill the Jewish inhabitants of Medina.  So an important Jewish man offered to give Muhammad the entire city and all their money if he would allow the men to walk out with their wives and children.  And they would leave their weapons behind.  The “peaceful” prophet refused.  Then he had the boys and men all decapitated, about 700, their bodies buried in a trench, and the women became concubines.   But first they were forced to walk through the corpses. This was the beginning of his first "missionary journey."
 
Having his first taste of blood, he later wrote a new sura in the Quran.  Gabreel now separately “told” him that Allah gave him permission to engage in war, per sura 22:39:  “Permission is given to those who engage in war because they were wronged, and surely Allah is capable of helping them.”  Well, he was "wronged," he figured, because they didn't believe him.  He persuaded more people from Mecca to move to Medina, and thus increased his followers.  (Might makes right, as they say. Some Jews left alive in Medina believed in him because he bribed them, or they were in fear for their lives).  Shortly after that, Allah also legalized jihad—war with non-believers, and allowed forced conversion.
 
As he recognized his talent for killing, he began forming an army and raided local Arab villages, especially the rich people’s homes, and raided caravans.  Now the language of the Quran, still coming from Gabreel, became more violent and harsh.  He claimed 20% of all spoils from such raids, per the Quran’s sura 8:41: “And know that whatever you take of spoil…a fifth part to Allah and to the messenger (that would be him).”
 
Finally Muhammad died at the estimated age of 62, after sweeping all over Arabia.  He was poisoned—Muslims believed it was from a Jewish lady.  But obviously he had his share of enemies, rather than just blaming Jews.  Most of his followers immediately left the religion.  But a few of his most dedicated followers “persuaded” them back so they could continue.
 
Enough of his high-character life.  Now let’s show what the Quran teaches.  I have to mention, first, its doctrine of abrogation, or nullification.  The Quran bluntly points out, in 6:34, that it is perfect and can’t be changed:  “no one can change the words of Allah.”  But later he found a need to change some things, so, eureka, we have sura 2:106:  “Whatever verse we abrogate, or cause it to be forgotten, we bring a better than it or like it.  Do you not know that Allah has might over all things?”  Now the big question is, How many portions of the perfect Quran contain abrogation (or, have been changed)?   The answer is, 71 suras are so affected—but there are only 114 in all.  These are serious changes;  for instance, sura 9:5, called The Verse of the Sword, abrogates 124 verses that spoke softly about other religions and other people—such as being decent to the People of the Book ("the Book" is the Bible, so this was tolerance of Christians.)  So evidently he wrote some tolerant verses—but these were negated, or abrogated, by the new jihad suras.  A little history to explain that.  When he was way outnumbered by his enemies in Mecca, when he was even afraid of Allah, who could be a demon, he conveniently softened his tune—he praised his enemies’ gods intentionally, flattering them that he was their friend—so they wouldn’t kill him.  At that time he wrote nice things about other religions in the Quran.  But when his numbers acquired strength, he decided that those decent verses in the Quran must have been dictated to him by Satan.  Thus they had to be abrogated—en masse.  As my favorite author/resource on this says, “When they (Muslims) are weak in a land, they lie and deceive the people…by stating that they also believe in Jesus…until they have the upper hand.  Then is when they will practice the hate of those Quran verses.”  As sura 47:35 says, “So do not be weak and do not call for peace when you have the upper hand.  And Allah is with you.”
 
Now it's time for a comparison:  What does our Scripture say about our God vs what does the Quran say about Allah, their god?  Are they the same god?  Let’s start with the Christian God.
 
Jesus is the only Son of God.  Yet He was in God, and was God
Isaiah 9:6:
For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
John 1:1-3, 14:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was GodHe was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made…. 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 14:7,9,10:
“If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him”…He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me?
See also Romans 9:5, Philippians 2:5-11, Colossians 1;16, 2:9, Titus 2:13, Hebrews 1:8, and II Peter 1:1.  Again, a difficult concept—but the Word says it. 
God loves us, is merciful and forgiving, hates to see anyone in hell—but must judge us and our rejection of Him
John 3:16: 
God so loved the world, that He gave His only son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Exodus 34:6-7:
And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.”
II Peter 3:9:
The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
Jesus (God on earth) prophesied the future, healed, had compassion, warned of hell, died for us, and rose again from the dead
His compassion and healing:  The verses here are too many to count, and are well known. I can’t resist giving you one, the raising of Lazarus from the dead. John 11:32-43
Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. 34 And He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus wept. 36 Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!” 37 And some of them said, “Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?” Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.”40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” 41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying…. 43 Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth! 
Jesus predicted he would be betrayed, who His betrayer was, and Peter’s denial.  Mark 10:33:
“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles
Matthew 26:23, 25, 26
He answered and said, “He who dipped his hand with Me in the dish will betray Me. .. 25 Then Judas, who was betraying Him, answered and said, “Rabbi, is it I?” He said to him, “You have said it.”
Mark 14:29-30, 71-72
 29 Peter said to Him, “Even if all are made to stumble, yet I will not be.” 30 Jesus said to him,  “Assuredly, I say to you that today, even this night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times.”…. (Later)Then he (Peter, under pressure) began to curse and swear, “I do not know this Man of whom you speak!”  72 A second time the rooster crowed. Then Peter called to mind the word that Jesus had said to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times.” And when he thought about it, he wept.
Jesus predicts His crucifixion and the exact date of His resurrection from the dead
Matthew 20:18-19
“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, 19 and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again.”
As He said, He rose from the dead, Matthew 28:1-6, John 20:19-21
Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door,[a] and sat on it. His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men. But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay….Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” 

Now let’s look at the god Allah. After you compare them, you will see their obvious differences in major doctrines  You will be asked, “Which do you think is more worthy of worship?”
Allah had no “female partner” so he had no son.  He called those who believe in the Trinity of God “polytheists.”  Followers of Allah say, Christian trinity worships the Father, the Son, and Mary
sura 4:48 …Whoso ascribeth partners to Allah, he hath indeed invented a tremendous sin.
5:75 The Messiah, son of Mary, was only a messenger.

Allah has no mercy, is uncaring, unforgiving, capricious
2:10 In their hearts is a disease, and Allah increases their disease. A painful doom is theirs since they lie.
2:15 Allah (Himself) doth mock them, leaving them to wander blindly
2:17-18 Allah taketh away their light and leaveth them in darkness, where they cannot see, Deaf, dumb and blind; and they return not.
4:88 Seek ye to guide him whom Allah hath sent astray? He whom Allah sendeth astray, for him thou (O Muhammad) canst not find a road
13:14 The prayer of disbelievers goeth (far) astray.
14:19 If He will, He can remove you and bring (in) some new creation;
3:128 It is
no concern at all of thee (Muhammad) whether He relent toward them or punish them
4:119 And surely I will lead them astray, and surely I will arouse desires in them…
2:142 Unto Allah belong the East and the West. He guideth whom He will unto a straight path.
4:168-9 Those who disbelieve and deal in wrong, Allah will never forgive them, neither will He guide them unto a road, Except the road of hell, wherein they will abide for ever. And that is ever easy for Allah.
5:41 He whom Allah doometh unto sin, thou (by thine efforts) wilt avail him naught against Allah. Those are they for whom the Will of Allah is that He cleanse not their hearts. Theirs in the world will be ignominy, and in the Hereafter an awful doom
6:25 Of them are some who listen unto thee, but We have placed upon their hearts veils, lest they should understand, and in their ears a deafness.
6:149 …Had He willed He could indeed have guided all of you.
7:164 Why preach ye to a folk whom Allah is about to destroy or punish with an awful doom,
7:178 He whom Allah leadeth, he indeed is led aright, while he whom Allah sendeth astray - they indeed are losers
9:113 It is not for the Prophet, and those who believe, to pray for the forgiveness of idolaters even though they may be near of kin after it hath become clear that they are people of hell-fire.
10:100 It is not for any soul to believe save by the permission of Allah
23:27 (Noah)…plead not with Me on behalf of those who have done wrong. Lo! they will be drowned ..
32:13 I will fill hell with the jinn and mankind together
66:2 Allah hath made lawful for you (Muslims) absolution from your oaths (So, do Muslims make good citizens in court?)
17:72 Whoso is blind here will be blind in the Hereafter, and yet further from the road
 
Allah is a misogynist (a woman-hater)
2:222 They question thee (O Muhammad) concerning menstruation. Say: It is an illness, so let women alone at such times
2:223 Your women are a tilth for you (a plowed field) so go to your tilth as ye will (plow them as ye will)
 2:283 And call two witness from among your men, two witnesses. And if two men be not at hand, then a man and two women (e.g., female witness is worth half that of a man).
4:3 …marry of the women, who seem good to you, two or three or four
4:11 Allah chargeth you concerning (the provision for) your children: to the male the equivalent of the portion of two females
4:15 As for those of your women who are guilty of lewdness, call to witness four of you against them…then confine them to the houses until death (it didn’t take much for the women to be accused of “lewdness;” showing her face, or part of a leg, etc)
4:24 And all married women (are forbidden unto you) save those (captives) whom your right hands possess.
4:34 Men are in charge of women, because Allah hath made the one of them to excel the other,... As for those from whom ye fear rebellion, admonish them and banish them to beds apart, and scourge them.
66:10 ...the wife of Noah and the wife of Lot...betrayed them (their husbands) and it was said (unto the women): Enter the Fire along with those who enter (this tale of betrayal has no support; it's just lies against women).

Allah loves war and recommends hatred and killing of non-Muslims
4:74 Whoso fighteth in the way of Allah, be he slain or be he victorious, on him We shall bestow a vast reward.
3:110 Ye (Muslims) are the best community that hath been raised up for mankind. Ye enjoin right conduct and forbid indecency; and ye believe in Allah. And if the People of the Scripture (Jews and Christians) had believed it had been better for them. Some of them are believers; but most of them are evil-livers.
3:118 O ye who believe! Take not for intimates others than your own folk, who would spare no pains to ruin you; they love to hamper you. Hatred is revealed by (the utterance of) their mouths
2:109 Many of the people of the Scripture long to make you disbelievers after your belief… Forgive and be indulgent (toward them) until Allah give command (uh, command to do what?)
2:191 And slay them wherever ye find them, and drive them out of the places whence they drove you out…Such is the reward of disbelievers.
2:216 Warfare is ordained for you.
4:89 …So choose not friends from them till they forsake their homes in the way of Allah; if they turn back (to enmity) then take them and kill them wherever ye find them
4:91 If they keep not aloof from you nor offer you peace (i.e., if they are not surrendering)… then take them and kill them wherever ye find them. Against such We have given you clear warrant.
8:39 And fight them until persecution is no more, and religion is all for Allah
8:65 O Prophet! Exhort the believers to fight…they shall overcome those who disbelieve, because they are a folk without intelligence.
9:33 He it is Who hath sent His messenger with the guidance and the Religion of Truth, that He may cause it to prevail over all religion, however much the idolaters may be averse.
9:73 O Prophet! Strive against the disbelievers and the hypocrites! Be harsh with them.
28:86 never be a helper to the disbelievers.
9:111 Allah hath bought from the believers their lives and their wealth because the Garden (heaven) will be theirs: they shall fight in the way of Allah and shall slay and be slain.

Allah hates Jews and Christians
2:63a, 65 And remember, O Children of Israel…ye know of those of you who broke the Sabbath, how We said unto them: Be ye apes, despised and hated!
2:96 And thou wilt fi
nd them (the Jews) greediest of mankind for life and (greedier) than the idolaters. (Each) one of them would like to be allowed to live a thousand years. And to live (a thousand years) would by no means remove him from the doom.
5:12-13 Allah made a covenant of old with the Children of Israel.  And because of their breaking their covenant, We have cursed them and made hard their hearts.. Thou wilt not cease to discover treachery from all save a few of them
5:51 O ye who believe! Take not the Jews and the Christians for friends
5:59 Say: O People of the Scripture! (Jews and Christians)...most of you are evil-livers
5:60,63  Allah hath turned some to apes and swine…Why do not the rabbis and the priests forbid their evil-speaking and their devouring of illicit gain ?
62:5 The likeness of those who are entrusted with the Law of Moses, yet apply it not, is as the likeness of the ass carrying books.
9:30 And the Jews say: Ezra is the son of Allah.  How perverse are they! (No proof of the “Ezra” charge).

Allah is a sadist
4:56 Lo! Those who disbelieve Our revelations, We shall expose them to the Fire. As often as their skins are consumed We shall exchange them for fresh skins that they may taste the torment.
5:33 The only reward of those who make war upon Allah and His messenger will be that they will be killed or crucified, or have their hands and feet on alternate sides cut off
5:38 As for the thief, both male and female, cut off their hands.
6:70…For them is drink of boiling water and a painful doom, because they disbelieved.
6:137 Thus …killing of their children seems fair unto many of the idolaters, that they may ruin them and make their faith obscure for them. Had Allah willed (it otherwise), they had not done so. So leave them alone with their devices.
7:44 And the dwellers of the Garden (heaven) cry unto the dwellers of the Fire: We have found that which our Lord promised us (to be) the Truth. Have ye (too) found that which your Lord promised the Truth? (Thus, those in heaven will mock in glee the misfortune of those in hell).
8:12 I will throw fear into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Then smite the necks (i.e., decapitate) and smite of them each finger.
8:37 The wicked will He place piece upon piece, and heap them all together, and consign them unto hell.
8:50 If thou couldst see how the angels receive those who disbelieve, smiting faces and their backs and (saying): Taste the punishment of burning!
17:58 There is not a township but We shall destroy it ere the Day of Resurrection
18:29 We have prepared for disbelievers Fire. Its tent encloseth them. If they ask for showers, they will be showered with water like to molten lead which burneth the faces
19:74 How many a generation have We destroyed before them, who were more imposing in respect of gear and outward seeming! (Allah doing his bragging).
21:15 And this their crying ceased not till We made them as reaped corn, extinct.
21:39 If those who disbelieved but knew the time when they will not be able to drive off the fire from their faces and from their backs, and they will not be helped!
22:19-22 But as for those who disbelieve, garments of fire will be cut out for them; boiling fluid will be poured down on their heads Whereby that which is in their bellies, and their skins too, will be melted And for them are hooked rods of iron Whenever, in their anguish, they would go forth from thence they are driven back therein and (it is said unto them): Taste the doom of burning
24:2 The adulterer and the adulteress, scourge ye each one of them (with) a hundred stripes. And let not pity for the twain withhold you from obedience to Allah, if ye believe in Allah and the Last Day. And let a party of believers witness their punishment.
47:23 Such are they whom Allah curseth so that He deafeneth them and maketh blind their eyes.
50:30 On the day when We say unto hell: Art thou filled ? and it saith: Can there be more to come ?
113:1-4 Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of the Daybreak From the evil of that which He created From the evil of the darkness when it is intense And from the evil of malignant witchcraft (Muhammad must have dealt with spirits at night).
70:15-16 lo! It is the fire of hell Eager to roast
74:56 And they will not heed unless Allah willeth (it). He is the fount of fear
102:6,8 For ye will behold hell-fire. Then, on that day, ye will be asked concerning pleasure

Allah makes errors, many absurdities
Hadith (statement of Muhammad):  Muhammad said, "All children of Adam are poked on their sides before they were born, except Isa, son of Mary; when Satan went to poke him, he poked Mary’s hymen.”
66:12 (original--since abrogated):  Mary, the daughter of Amr (but the daughter of Amram was Miriam, who lived 1500 years earlier than Mary. See note below; Mary was the daughter of Heli)...to continue the Muslim story..."who guarded her sexual parts, so we breathed into it (the vagina) from our spirit (to create Jesus, or “Isa”).
23:14 (original):  Then we created the nutfah into a clot…the clot into a piece of flesh…piece of flesh into bones…clothed the bones with flesh.”  Hadiths claimed these 4 stages of “embryonic development” took 40 days each, thus a typical pregnancy would last a little over 5 months!  (But wait--didn't they say, 4-5 years?)
86:5-7 (original):  So let the human look to what he was created from….(nutfah comes) from gushing water, it comes out from the backbones and the breasts (but females don’t produce any fluid from breasts for the purpose of conception…and male sperm does not come from the backbone--despite what Allah is saying)

Hadith:  When Isa knocked at the door and heard the noises inside the house, the parents lied and told him that the children were not home and that the noise was the voices of pigs and monkeys. Then Isa said, “O, Allah, may they be.”  And the children were transformed into pigs and monkeys.

Hadith:  The angel Gabreel (or Gabreel and Mika’il) helped Isa have victory over Satan by slapping him with their wings.

Hadith (on Isa’s return):  …he will descend from heaven, break the cross, kill the pig, and establish the tribute tax.  He will end religions except for Allah.
2:34 And when We said unto the angels: Prostrate yourselves before Adam, they fell prostrate, all save Iblis. He demurred through pride, and so became a disbeliever. (But...only God is to be worshipped; He would never command angels to worship man.  Uh, who is Iblis?)
25:54 And He it is Who hath created man from water (No, wait..) 6:2 He it i
s Who hath created you from clay (No, wait…) 3:59 He created him of dust (No, wait…) 16:4 He hath created man from a drop of fluid (No, darn it, wait…) 96:2 Createth man from a clot.(Yes, Allah is sure this time…man was created from a…clot!)
2:247-8 Their Prophet said unto them: Lo! Allah hath raised up Saul to be a king for you… And their Prophet said unto them: Lo! the token of his kingdom is that there shall come unto you the ark …which the house of Moses and the house of Aaron left behind, the angels bearing it (how strange is this fable!)
3:85 And whoso seeketh as religion other than the Surrender (to Allah) it will not be accepted from him (or was it…) 2:256 There is no compulsion in religion (this is the most ignored sura of all).
2:106 Nothing of our revelation (even a single verse) do we abrogate or cause be forgotten,  but we bring (ie, put in place instead) one better or the like thereof. (Well, I ask, which is it?  Is it…10:64 There is no changing the Words of Allah (or is it…) 16:101 And when We put a revelation in place of (another) revelation, - and Allah knoweth best what He revealeth.  They s(ie, infidels) say: Lo! thou art but inventing." Most of them know not.
3:7 He it is Who hath revealed unto thee (Muhammad) the Scripture wherein are clear revelations..and others (which are) allegorical. But those in whose hearts is doubt…by seeking to explain it. None knoweth its explanation save Allah (in other words, Don’t try to understand the Quran).
4:157 And because of their saying: We slew the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, Allah's messenger - they slew him not nor crucified him, but it appeared so unto them (they not only degrade Jesus to a prophet less than Muhammad, but now they’re implying, He was never crucified—hadiths say, by the way, another who looked like Him was substituted…Jesus never died.  Right.)
6:38 There is not an animal in the earth, nor a flying creature flying on two wings, but they are peoples like unto you
21:33  the sun and the moon. They float, each in an orbit (they’re saying, sun orbits around the earth along with moon).
19:28 (They're speaking of Mary, mother of Jesus, and said): O sister of Aaron!  (But Mary lived 1500 years later than her “brother,” Aaron.  Muhammad, or Allah, confused her with Miriam again.)
19:29-30 They said: How can we talk to one who is in the cradle, a young boy? He (supposedly Jesus) spake: Lo! I am the slave of Allah. He hath given me the Scripture and hath appointed me a Prophet.
20:71 (Pharaoh) said: I shall crucify you on the trunks of palm trees (but crucifixion was invented by the Romans; Pharaoh knew nothing about it in this time period).
38:41-42 Our bondman Job, when he cried unto his Lord (And it was said unto him): Strike the ground with thy foot. This (spring) is a cool bath and a refreshing drink (mixing two Bible stories into one).
39:53 Allah, Who forgiveth all sins. (In actuality, this is not the case, as we have proven.  Verses like this are thrown in as sneaky ways for missionaries to proselytize).
42:30 Whatever of misfortune striketh you, it is what your right hands have earned (So misfortune is your fault.  Thank God, you can avoid a lot of grief by reading the Bible on this subject).
54:1 The hour drew nigh and the moon was rent in twain. (This would cause tsunamis, changes in tides, etc—none is recorded like that).
 
So which of these—Our God, or Allah, their god--has the kind of character that uplifts, that is full of loving and forgiving, and is worthy of worship?
 
Acknowledgements:  Exposing the Truth about the Quran, Dakdok and Skeptics Annotated Quran, Anonymous