It has been sometime since I have updated my blog.  I have been very busy finishing my master’s degree.  The good news…I have plenty of writing that I have done that I can share on the blog here.  Things have wound down a bit and I am going to endeavor to start posting here regularly again.  Much of the reason for this is that I want to do it for the people of my new church, Faith Baptist Church of Munising, MI where God has lead my to be the pastor.

It is my hope to comment on some theological and doctrinal trends that are happening in the world.  I will also share some thoughts about God’s Word and what the Lord has been teaching me from time to time.  My prayer is that God will use it to encourage you as well as make you more aware of some of what is happening in the world of Christianity (and outside of those walls at times too).  May God bless all of you and I look forward to corresponding on the blog here once again.

Pastor Ben Boeshaar

 Happy New Year!  Bible reading charts were included in the bulletin on New Year’s Day (Sunday).  If you didn’t get one, it is posted at the end of this article so that you can download and print it when you have the chance.  You can also keep it on file to use year after year.  I want to encourage and challenge you to read through the Bible in 2012.  There is no greater resolution for a new year than to determine to read the Bible from cover to cover.  You will find the enclosed reading plan easy to follow and easy to complete each day.

These verses come from Psalm 119, the longest of all the Psalms and one which is totally focused on the blessings of the Word of God. Here the psalmist does two things: he states the way in which a man can keep his way pure and that is by keeping his way according to Scripture. He then expresses his desire to seek the Lord with all his heart and then pleading for strength to not depart from the commandments of the Lord. As I read those verses again I had to ask myself, “Do I have the same heart as we enter the New Year?”

Over the years, I have had the chance to discuss Bible reading yearly with several individuals.  There are always different excuses that seem to come up in relation to Bible reading and here are just a few:

1)   I just don’t have enough time to read through the whole Bible

The nice thing about this Bible reading plan is that it does not take very much time to complete each day’s reading. If you can set aside a half-hour each day you can easily accomplish this reading plan and eventually read through the entire Bible this year.

2)   I have no idea where to start reading

Having a set plan to follow allows you to no longer have to figure out where to start reading. This Bible reading plan lays out the exact chapters for you to read each day so that you can finish reading the entire Bible in one year.

3)   I don’t know how much I should read each day to finish on time

This reading plan addresses that problem too. As you follow the plan, you will end of reading two Old Testament books and two New Testament books. Sometimes, you will read more than one chapter but that happens just a few times. Follow the plan exactly and you will be able to read through the Bible this year.

4)   I’m not sure I see the importance of reading the whole Bible in a year

This may sound like a really bad excuse but many of us can think this way from time to time. We can always find time to accomplish the things that we want to accomplish in reading the Bible should be at the very top of our list of things to accomplish. The importance of reading God’s word on a daily basis is not so that you can just check off a reading plan that day. The main reason is so that the Scripture can penetrate our own lives and in so doing allowing us to keep our way pure and our decisions to be right before the Lord. We must saturate ourselves with the word of God and obey it each day.

I hope that addressing some of these excuses have been a help to you.  I have chosen and recommended this plan to you because it has helped me address these same excuses in my life over the years. If you are anything like me, you have had these same excuses cross your mind at one time or another. Ask the Lord for strength and resolve to determine to be faithful in your Bible reading this year. It will do wonders for you spiritually!

Bible Reading Plan

I wanted to take a moment to say Merry Christmas to all of you who’ve been reading my blog over this last year. Christmas is a wonderful time of year; in fact it is my favorite time of year. If it were up to me, I would say that we celebrate Christmas every day of the year. Having said that, I wonder what Christmas means to you? I don’t mean for that to be an overly personal question, but I do want it to be a question to make you think. A lot of people view Christmas just as a time to set apart differences and to love those who are less fortunate. Oftentimes, the verse that I quoted at the beginning of this post will be quoted as the foundation for doing good works toward men during the Christmas season. There is a place for thinking of those that are less fortunate during the holidays. I’m not saying that we should neglect people with needs, so please don’t misunderstand me. What I am saying, is that there is a deeper in far greater meaning to this verse and that is the purpose of this post.

The context of this verse is the Angels speaking to the shepherds on that first Christmas. The shepherds had an opportunity to observe the Angels praising God for an event that had been in the making for ages. I purposely quoted the KJV translation of this verse because it is the version that is so well known and so often quoted. Literally translated from the Greek, this verse should read, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men of His good pleasure.” This translation brings out a much deeper and far greater meaning to what the Angels were saying that first Christmas. You see, peace was not just coming to all of mankind in general. Peace was coming to those whom God had selected to partake in the salvation He was going to provide. The salvation of any soul, including our own, is of God’s own pleasure and choosing.

What is the glory of Christmas? The glory of Christmas is that Christ came to redeem sinners, of whom I am chief as Paul said (I Timothy 1:15). The glory of Christmas is something that can only be experienced by those who know Christ as their Savior. Certainly good things can be done during Christmas and good works can be done toward men during the holidays, but apart from Christ saving a person, those works are done without true peace. My friends, if you know Jesus as your Savior and Lord today, take some time to thank Him for the salvation He’s provided for you. Rejoice in the fact that you have been chosen by God to experience and to partake in the peace that only comes from God. Christ came to earth to redeem you and to redeem me! Glory to God!

1. I am planning on addressing some of the most recent happenings in Fundamentalism and lend a little perspective to some of the issues and offer some answers (from my perspective at least).

2. I am burdened to address what I have labeled, “Decisionalism.”  That is a word that I have made up to describe the revivalism and decisionism that had come to characterize some in Fundamentalism today.  I want to examine some of it from a Biblical perspective.

3. I was recently given a book that was written back in 2002 advocating a “historical Jesus.”  I want to examine this book and some of the questions and claims.  This will be one of the first subjects I tackle seeing as we are coming into the Christmas holiday.  I hope to encourage you that we serve and worship not a mere political or religious leader.  We serve and worship the God who became Man…Jesus Christ…and remained God and Man the entire time He was on Earth.  We will examine this historical Jesus position through the lens of Scripture.

I hope this “wets your appetite” for what is coming very soon to this blog.  If there is some delay in my getting to one of these subjects that you are looking forward to seeing and reading, make sure you let me know.  As always, comments, questions, and discussions are always welcome here.

I was reminded tonight of some verses that I have preached on several times.  The Lord puts us in situations to remind us that we have to live what we preach all the time.  The verses are Ephesians 5:19-20, “Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; 20 always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father.”  I must say that I had an awful day today.  It was one of those days when nothing goes right and all of the worst things happen.  Imagine this in your mind’s eye…I go into the gas station to buy a cup of coffee for less than $1.  Knowing that I watch my checkbook like a hawk and balance it to a tee, I knew I had plenty of money in my account to cover my purchase, and if I didn’t, I would be in real trouble.  Who doesn’t have a dollar, right?  It turned out that I didn’t!  In fact, it turns out that I owed my bank over two hundred dollars!  Now, before you say, “You better go back and take basic math with the freshman in the college,” you have to hear the rest of the story.  It is here that my day went from bad to worse.  Thinking I made some mistake in balancing my checking account, I called my credit union to see what was up.  They proceed to tell me that the check issue d to me by my employer for my salary payment BOUNCED and I had NO MONEY in my account!  It gets better…we had made the deposit on Monday and had made purchases against the money, all of which were also bouncing like basketballs and all of this news was given to me on the Friday at 3pm just before a long holiday weekend!  I also have all of my regular bills due and have to come up with my gas money to drive the 87 miles per day to school and back.  I was IN SHOCK over this whole situation and had no idea what to do.  Thankfully, after an hour and half of phone calls, just before the payroll department closed, I was able to get things taken care of.  I still have no idea why this happened, but it made for some tense moments I can assure you.

Have you ever had a really bad day?  Today was just one of those days for me, and I was reminded about these verses again.  Both of these verses are a continuation by the Apostle Paul in describing one who is filled with the Spirit.  I have to admit that my sanctification was tested today and I almost didn’t pass!  These verses came to mind just in time.  You know, when trials come and when bad things happen, who do we rely on?  We have a sovereign and providential God who is orchestrating our lives.  Nothing happens that He does not already know and we can go to Him in times like these.  That’s why we “give thanks for all things…”  God is working all things for our good and for His glory (Romans 8:28-30).  I hope I will never forget that wonderful and encouraging truth!

The deity and humanity of Christ is a subject matter that has been debated for centuries.  In fact, it was debated even prior to His death on the cross.  It would seem in today’s world in particular, that many religions and worldly philosophies deny, mock, and scorn Christ for being the God-Man.  Religions such as Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, the Baha’i Faith, and Jehovah’s Witnesses plainly deny that Jesus was God.  All of these religions would set him up as a good and moral human being, but all of them would vehemently deny the fact that he was also God in the flesh.

Unfortunately, Christianity has not escaped this debate.  There have always been those that claimed to be under the umbrella of Christianity and at the same time denying the virgin birth of Christ.  They denied the fact that Christ was fully God and fully man at the same time.  This debate came into full focus during the early part of the twentieth century when Fundamentalism formed as a movement against the Liberalism and Neo-Orthodoxy of the day.  Liberal Theology had made its way into churches and seminaries across the United States and in England causing the gospel and the very deity of Christ to be questioned by some.  That same debate is alive and well within Christian circles with the rise and popularity of the Emergent Church.  There are no “new” debates.  The old ones are simply dressed in a different set of clothes.

Fundamentalism was formed by a group of men who chose to stand for this and many other important theological truths.  Dr. G. Campbell Morgan in writing one of the major essays for the fundamentals of the faith wrote this regarding the incarnation of Christ:

Christ was in conflict with all that was contrary to the purposes of God in individual, social, national, and racial life.  There is a sense in which when we have said this we have stated the whole meaning of His coming.  His revelation of the Father was toward this end; His putting away of sin was part of this very process; and His second advent will be for the complete and final overthrow of all the works of the devil.[1]

The deity and humanity of Christ are the central focus of all the doctrines within Christianity.  It is therefore vital that this doctrine be upheld and defended both amongst the liberal Christian theologian and other religions like Islam.

The purpose of this paper is to defend the deity and humanity of Jesus Christ from a presupposition standpoint.  This doctrine has to be defended from a presupposition that the Bible is true when it speaks of who Christ is and of what He came to do.  Charles Spurgeon said, “Deity is not to be explained, but to be adored; and the Sonship of Christ is to be accepted as a truth of revelation, to be apprehended by faith, though it cannot be comprehended by the understanding.”[2] Apart from presuppositional truth, the story of the incarnation is nothing more than a fairy tale in the eyes of those that do not believe it.   Time and space do not allow for a complete defense of the Bible as the Word of God.  It will therefore be assumed, and rightly so, that the Bible is indeed the God’s Word and that it has much to say regarding this matter of the deity and humanity of Christ.

The Scriptural Proof of Christ’s Deity

The Bible has much to say regarding the Deity of Christ.  First, Scripture itself declares that Jesus Christ is God through several witnesses.  Jesus himself said that he was God when he said that he and the Father were one (John 10:30).  The apostle John declared that Jesus was God and was present at the creation of the universe when he wrote, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1).  The Apostle Paul wrote in Colossians 2:9, “For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form…”  Finally, God the Father testified that Jesus was the Christ on numerous occasions.  The most famous of these occasions was at the baptism of Jesus.  Matthew 3:17 says that God the Father spoke as a voice out of heaven saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Second, the names used to describe Christ show that he is God.  He is known as the “beloved Son” (Matthew 3:17; 12:18; 17:5); as the “Son of God” (Acts 9:20; Heb. 10:29; I John 4:15); and as the “King of Kings” (I Tim. 6:15; Rev. 1:5; 19:16).

A third proof found is Scripture is that Christ is preeminent.   Colossians 1:16-18 are tremendous verses that prove the deity of Christ.  Verse 18 says, “He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.”  The King James Version translates that last phrase, “that He might have the preeminence.”  The phrase, “have first place” comes from the Greek word, πρωτεύω (protuoo) and it means, “To be in the first position, with the implication of high rank and prominence – ‘to be the first, to have superior status.”[3] This idea of Christ having preeminence or first place, is tied to the phrase, “firstborn from the dead” mentioned at the beginning of the verse.  The word for firstborn is the word, πρωτότοκος.  Louw Nida makes the following comment on this word’s usage earlier in the passage, “The figurative meaning of πρωτότοκος in the messianic title πρωτότοκος πάσης κτίσεως ‘firstborn of all creation’ (Col 1.1) may be interpreted as ‘existing before all creation’ or ‘existing superior to all creation…’”[4] As if this were not enough proof of Christ’s preexistence and preeminence, Christ Himself declares to John in Revelation 1:8, “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”  Christ is literally the beginning and the end of all that was, that is, and of that which is to come.  He is God!

Fourth, the lordship of Christ is proof of His deity.  Peter declared Him Lord in Acts 2:36 when he declared, “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ– this Jesus whom you crucified.”  The idea behind the word “Lord” is that of an owner or ruler.  In referring to God (Jesus) in refers to one who has supernatural authority over mankind.  A complete definition of the Lordship of Christ would be that Christ as Lord means Christ, the one who rules and commands all believers.[5]

A final proof of the deity of Christ found in Scripture is His exaltation to Heavenly places.  Jesus declared that he would be exalted by God the Father and seated at His right hand in Luke 22:69.  Paul declared His exaltation when he wrote,

…which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, ²¹ far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. ²² And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, ²³ which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. (Eph 1:20-23)

Paul also declared that Christ has been given a name that is above every name and is the very name at which every knee will bow and every tongue will one day confess…(Phil. 2:9-10).  There is no better proof of the deity of Christ then his position in Heaven and the exaltation that has been given to Christ by God the Father.

[2] Kerry James Allen, Exploring the Heart & Mind of the Prince of Preachers (Oswego, IL: Fox River Press, 2005), 255.

[3] Louw-Nida Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains, 2nd Edition, (New York, NY: United Bible Societies, 1988), Bibleworks.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid.

As was mentioned last week, the Baha’i religion began in the Middle East as a heresy of Islam.  It was only as it began to gain access to the Christian cultures of the West did it begin to take the form it is currently in.  The Baha’i faith today considers Muhammad, Buddha, Zoroaster, Confucius and other founders of world religions all as prophets and equal to one another.

The appeal of the Baha’i Faith is to those that desire to have a religion that is private and individualized while also being focused upon social activism.  Since anyone can really believe anything they want, it is very much a pluralistic religion with social and political overtones.  As religion goes, believers can be tempted to overlook Baha’is’ and not take its beliefs seriously, but this is a dangerous position to take.  The Baha’i Faith is growing in the United States because of its broad appeal to social and economic justice.  Humanly, its beliefs and intentions appear good, but it is yet another way for the devil to distort salvation and blind the eyes of those who follow this religion to the truth of God’s Word.

Baha’is’ must understand that sin is the reason for economic injustice and evil in the world.  Man is depraved of any and all good in the sinful state in which he is born.  The Bible says, “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. 20 “For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 “But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.” (John 3:19-21)  Men love their sin and love darkness, and will not seek after God.  The end result of sin is eternal punishment in Hell.  The Baha’i Faith gives no answers to the problem of sin or true confidence of eternal life after death.  They can only attempt to address the symptoms that result from sin because they themselves have no real answer.

Baha’is’ must also understand that there is only one Messiah, Jesus Christ.  Baha’u’llah is not the second appearing of Christ.  Philippians 2:8-11 state, “Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”  The name is not Baha’u’llah that every knee is bowing to and every tongue confessing…the name is Jesus!  His name will not be changing and when he comes again, everyone will know it.  Baha’is’ are trusting in a different Messiah, not the Jesus of the Bible.

Summary and Conclusion

The Baha’i Faith is a religion with political overtones that is seeking social and economic change in the world.  They have replaced Biblical account of John the Baptist and Jesus with two human individuals that called themselves “the Bab” and “Baha’u’llah.”

In their eyes, Jesus is the same as all of the other founders of the other major religions of the world.  Christ is their only hope.  Rom 8:3 states, “For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God {did:} sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and {as an offering} for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh…”  Only Christ can meet the physical and spiritual needs of people here on earth, and apart from Him, there is no salvation or forgiveness of sins.  He alone is the answer to all of man’s problems and that is the truth that must be stressed to believers of the Baha’i faith today.