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Rebellion and hatred towards God
Read how rebellion and hatred towards God manifests itself in modern times
This writing deals with rebellion and hatred towards God, how people reject God and Jesus Christ. So the assumption is that God really exists and has revealed himself through his son Jesus Christ, but people reject the message of this and do not want to take God and faith in Him into account. The atmosphere in Western countries is such that God is wanted out of decision-making and society as a whole. For example, universities, which in their time were founded on the basis of the Christian faith and where the teaching of the Bible was central, are at the forefront of this development. In them, you can represent any worldview and religion or atheism, and it is beyond the reach of any judgment. On the other hand, if you mention that Jesus Christ is the only way and represent the Christian faith, you will be considered narrow-minded and behind your time. This is an indication of a complete change in the values and beliefs of the universities. They have become bastions of atheism and humanistic faith. There are many reasons why development in Western countries has gone in this direction. The most important of them are the theory of evolution and liberal theology, which have eroded the foundation of the Christian faith in people's minds. People have the image that the universe and life were born and developed by themselves and that the Bible is not a historical book. They think that the Christian faith is not true, and therefore they reject the gospel message and Jesus Christ. Part of the reason for the development are the messengers of atheism such as Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett, Christopher Hitchens and numerous others, who have attacked God and the Christian faith in their books. In a way, they have been fighting against the non-existent, because according to their view, God does not even exist. Their influence has been great as they have received ample media coverage and their books have been printed in large numbers. Current developments are not new. We know from history that in addition to Jesus, most of the first apostles were martyred, so the opposition was great even then. True Christians who believe in Jesus have always been persecuted and are today the largest persecuted minority in the world. There was a similar development in communist countries and in Germany, before Nazism became the ruling ideology. These societies were based on the so-called to a scientific worldview that rejected belief in God, and the theory of evolution was a popular ideology in the minds of decision makers. The decision makers did not believe in the existence of God and that they are accountable for their actions to Him, and that affected their actions. For example, Hitler was a supporter of the theory of evolution. Similarly, the biography of the leader of the Soviet Union, Stalin, tells how Stalin, who had a religious upbringing and studied theology, became an atheist after reading Darwin's book The Origin of Species . It happened when he was 13 years old. After that, he started converting his friends to the "new faith" by lending them Darwin's books. But why do people hate God and Jesus Christ? Why do they reject the Christian faith, the teachings of Jesus and the apostles, and the gospel message about the forgiveness of sins? I personally think it's a matter of lies that people believe. They are under the influence of lies, and it makes them negative to the gospel message. According to Jesus, Satan is "is a liar, and the father of it." (John 8:44), and when people believe these lies of Satan, they do not want to seek God and the forgiveness of sins. They are left out of God's kingdom because of lies. Next, we will discuss this topic. At first, we talk about how our carnal nature, which is also left in every believer, does not want to submit to God's will and is leading us in the wrong direction. It's a good starting point to start working on this topic.
Enmity against God manifests itself in our own flesh, that is, in our innermost being
- (Rom 8:7) Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
- (Rom 7:21,22) I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. 22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
When it comes to enmity towards God, it is in every one of us. Even if we have turned to God and allowed ourselves to be saved, there is still much inadequacy and rebellion against God in us because we have a body prone to sin. With the help of God's grace and the Holy Spirit, it is possible to keep sinful traits under control, but no one becomes completely sinless during this life. Yes, pride, anger, lust, greed, grumbling, irritability, laziness and other negative human traits are always lurking at the door of our hearts. In fact, the longer a person has been in contact with God, the better he usually learns to know his own negative traits. Self-knowledge increases over the years. This self-knowledge increases humility and that we are not so sensitive to judging others. When we see our own mistakes, we cannot afford to judge the mistakes of others. This does not mean that one cannot distinguish between right and wrong behavior. It's not judgmental. Instead, hating other people, especially those who think differently, is it. This is where we need a renewal of our minds. None of us can wake love towards our neighbors who think differently, because it is an act of God's grace, but we can still strive to be kind and respectful of others. It is easier when a person has been in the light of God and has seen his own mistakes and shortcomings first. Respecting and loving others is told in e.g. in the following verses:
- (1 Peter 2:17) Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.
- (Rom 13:8) Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loves another has fulfilled the law.
- (Gal 5:14) For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
ANTI-GOD AND ARGUMENT OF ANTI-SCIENCE . If you look at past communist societies, they were characterized by hatred towards God. They wanted to completely eradicate the idea of God and teaching about God from societies, and the Bible was usually a forbidden book in them. It was not allowed to be distributed. The same modus operandi characterizes today's atheists such as Dawkins and his associates. They have made it their mission and agenda to prevent anyone from believing in God, and that is why they have written their books. In them, especially the Christian faith is strongly criticized and faith in God is considered absurd. Why do they act like this? One of the most essential reasons is that they themselves believe that they represent a scientific world view, while the Christian faith represents an anti-scientific point of view. In particular, Darwin's theory plays an important role here. Dawkins has written: "Although atheism may have seemed logically valid before Darwin, it was Darwin who laid the foundation for intellectually justified atheism." (1) What can be answered to the previous one? It seems that Dawkins and other atheists have not thought things through very deeply. They should present e.g. the following questions and takes into account the following:
• Literacy - how was it born and developed? First, attention should be paid to literacy. Everyone understands that if nations do not have their own book language and literacy, it is an obstacle to the development of science, the birth of inventions and the spread of knowledge. Then there are no books and information does not spread. Society remains in a stagnant state. How has the Christian faith influenced the creation of literary languages and literacy? This is where many have a blind spot. They do not know that almost all book languages were created by professing Christians. For example, in Finland, Mikael Agricola, Finnish religious reformer and father of literature, printed the first ABC book and parts of the Bible . The people learned to read through them. In numerous other western countries, development has taken place in the same way. Without the Christian faith, their development could have been delayed for centuries. The same development has occurred later in Africa and India. Even languages such as Hindi, Pakistani Urdu and Bengali, which are spoken by hundreds of millions of people, got their grammar and linguistic basis through Christian missionwork. The same goes for hundreds of other languages. Likewise, Yale University professor Lamin Sanneh has admitted that missionaries in Africa have done the greatest service to local cultures by creating the basis of a written language. This shows how significantly the Christian faith has been behind the emergence of literacy. Literacy is one of the most important prerequisites for scientific research.
• In what kind of society was born the so-called a scientific revolution, in a secular society or one where Christian theism prevailed ? When atheists and other opponents of Christianity make claims about the unscientific nature of the Christian faith, they themselves do not seem to know in what kind of society the so-called the scientific revolution took place. Because in the modern sense, science has only started once, i.e. in the Europe of the 16th-18th centuries, where Christian theism prevailed. It did not start in a secularist society, but specifically in a society inspired by the Christian faith. Almost all leading scientists believed in creation. Among them were Francis Bacon, Robert Boyle, Isaac Newton, Johannes Kepler, Copernicus, Galileo Galilei, Blaise Pascal, Michael Faraday, James Clerck Maxwell, John Ray, Louis Pasteur, etc. They were not representatives of the Enlightenment but of Christian theism.
• What about universities and schools? Along with literacy, they are important for the development of science, research, the birth of inventions and the spread of information. Through them, knowledge and research advance to a new level. How has the Christian faith influenced this region? Secularist and atheist circles are often unaware that the Bible and the Christian faith have played a major role in this area. Hundreds of universities and tens of thousands of schools have been started by pious Christians or through missionary work. Hundreds of thousands of students studied in them already in the Middle Ages - something that affected the so-called to the birth of the scientific revolution. For example, the following universities are well-known in England and America:
- Oxford and Cambridge. Both cities have plenty of churches and chapels. These universities were originally founded to teach the Bible. - Harvard. This university is named after Reverend John Harvard. Its motto from 1692 is Veritas Christo et Ecclesiae (truth for Christ and the Church) - Yale University was founded by former Harvard student, Puritan priest Cotton Mather. - The first president of Princeton University (originally the College of New Jersey) was Jonathan Edwards, who is known for the great revival in America in the 18th century. He was the most famous preacher of this revival, along with George Whitefield. - University of Pennsylvania. George Whitefield, another leader of the Great Awakening, founded the school that later developed into the University of Pennsylvania. What about India? India is not known for its Christianity. However, there are thousands of schools in this country that have been born on the basis of the Christian faith. The first universities in India were also born on the same basis. Such universities as the universities of Calcutta, Madras, Bombay and Serampore are well known. In addition, the University of Allahabad, established in 1887, is well-known. Five of India's first seven Prime Ministers hailed from this city, and many of India's top administrators have studied at Allahabad University. Also in Africa, basic and professional education (such as health care) is mainly built on the basis of Christian missionary work. Nelson Mandela wrote in his autobiography: "It seemed that almost everything that Africans achieved started with the church's missionary work." Let's still stay in Africa. Matthew Parris, a well-known British politician, author and journalist, has written about the impact of missionary work in Africa in The Times under the title "As an atheist, I really believe Africa needs God", and with the subtitle "Missionaries, not aid money, are the solution to Africa's biggest problem - people's crushingly passive way of thinking." Parris also notes how schools and teaching literacy have been part of Christian missions, such as hospitals and helping people:
Matthew Parris: It inspired me, renewing my waning faith in developing country philanthropy. However, traveling in Malawi also refreshed another perception, one that I have tried to banish all my life, but it is an observation that I have not been able to avoid since my childhood in Africa. It confounds my ideological concepts, stubbornly refuses to fit my worldview, and has baffled my growing belief that there is no God. Now, as as an accustomed atheist, I am convinced of the enormous impact that Christian evangelism is having in Africa – completely separate from secular civic organizations, government projects, and international aid efforts. These are simply not enough. Education and teaching alone are not enough. In Africa, Christianity changes people's hearts. It brings spiritual change. Rebirth is real. Change is good. …I would say it is a shame that salvation is part of the package, but both white and black Christians working in Africa are healing the sick, teaching people to read and write; and only the most secularized person could look at a mission hospital or school and say that the world would be better without it... Taking the spread of the Christian gospel out of the African equation may leave the continent at the mercy of the nefarious combination: Nike, the witch doctor, the cell phone and the machete. (The Times Online, 27 December 2008)
• If God did not create the universe, how do you explain its existence ? The fact is that the universe exists, but how did it come to be? In this area, some accuse the teaching of the Christian faith of creation as unscientific, while they themselves believe that the universe came into being by itself. They deny God's work of creation and instead believe that everything started from nothing in the Big Bang. This is illustrated by the names of books such as Tyhjästä Syntynyt [Born from Nothing] (Kari Enqvist, Jukka Maalampi) or A Universe from Nothing (Lawrence M. Krauss). However, the problem with this theory is that nothing can be taken from nothing and nothing can be created from it by itself. It is a mathematical impossibility. Empty and non-existent does not turn itself into stars, planets or rocks, despite claims otherwise. Atheist scientists are themselves anti-science when they believe in such nonsense. However, several astronomers and scientists have admitted that this theory and other self-birth theories are contrary to real science. There is no real evidence for them. Scientists do admit that the universe and life have a beginning, because e.g. the limited existence time of the sun and other stars requires this, but if God's work of creation is not accepted, they are at a dead end. (The stars and the sun cannot be eternal, otherwise their energy reserves would have already run out. Similarly, life on Earth depends on the sun, which could not forever give light and heat to the Earth). Here are some comments from scientists admitting that self-birth theories of the universe are inconsistent with real science:
As an old cosmologist, I see the current observational data repealing theories about the beginning of the universe, and also the many theories about the beginning of the Solar System. (H. Bondi, Letter, 87 New Scientist 611 / 1980)
There has been remarkably little discussion of whether or not the big bang hypothesis is correct... many of the observations that conflict it are explained through numerous unfounded assumptions or they are simply ignored. (nobelist H. Alfven, Cosmic Plasma 125 / 1981)
”It is pointless to argue that something comes into existence out of nothing, when any given mathematician understands this to be complete nonsense” (Ron Rosenbaum: ”Is the Big Bang Just a Big Hoax? David Berlinski Challenges Everyone.” New York Observer 7.7.1998)
“Big Bang theory depends on a growing number of unconfirmed assumptions - things we have never observed. Inflation, dark matter and dark energy are the best known of these. Without them, there would be fatal contradictions between the observations made by astronomers and the predictions of the initial explosion theory.” (Eric Lerner and 33 other scientists from 10 different countries, Bucking the Big Bang, New Scientist 182(2448):20, 2004; www.cosmologystatement.org, accessed 1 April 2014.)
I do not want to claim that we really understand the process that created the galaxies. The theory on the birth of the galaxies is one of the major unsolved problems in astrophysics and we still seem to be far from the actual solution even today. (Steven Weinberg, Kolme ensimmäistä minuuttia / The First Three Minutes, p. 88)
Books are full of stories that feel rational, but the unfortunate truth is that we do not know, how the galaxies were born. (L. John, Cosmology Now 85, 92 / 1976)
The scary thing here is that if none of us knew beforehand that stars exists, the frontline research would provide many convincing reasons as to why stars could never be born.” (Neil deGrasse Tyson, Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries, p. 187, W.W. Norton & Company, 2007)
Abraham Loeb: “The truth is that we don’t understand the formation of stars on a fundamental level.” (Cited from Marcus Chown’s article Let there be light, New Scientist 157(2120):26-30, 7 February 1998)
Even nowadays, when astrophysics has progressed enormously, many theories concerning the origin of the solar system are unsatisfactory. Scientists still disagree about the details. There is no commonly accepted theory in sight. (Jim Brooks, Näin alkoi elämä, p. 57 / Origins of Life)
All presented hypotheses about the origin of the solar system have serious inconsistencies. The conclusion, at the moment, seems to be that the solar system cannot exist. (H. Jeffreys, The Earth: Its Origin, History and Physical Constitution, 6th edition, Cambridge University Press, 1976, p. 387)
• If God did not create life, how do you explain its existence? The fact is that there is life on Earth and it is very diverse. There are cows and grass that cows eat. There are roaring lions, flying birds, fish, mammoth trees, buzzing mosquitoes, delicious strawberries, bananas and blueberries. Similarly, there are people who can talk, build and feel emotions: cry, laugh, get angry, fear, mourn and fall in love. The question is, how did life come about if God didn't create it? If you are an atheist and do not accept God's creation work, how do you explain the existence of life? A clear scientific fact has been observed: only life begets life, and no exception to this rule has been found. Since life has not always existed, but has a beginning (the sun's limited time of existence places limitations on the existence of life), this clearly points to God in the case of the first forms of life. If you do not accept this option, i.e. God's work of creation, then where did life begin? A few comments show that the origin of life itself is an enigma. This idea is adopted for philosophical reasons, not through practical evidence:
Doctor George Wald, the Nobel laureate of 1967 in medicine: When it comes to the origin of life on earth, there are only two possibilities: creation or the coming about by itself (evolution). There is no third option. Coming about by itself has been proven wrong 100 years ago, but it leads us to one single option: supernatural creation. We cannot accept this on philosophical basis (because of personal reasons), and that is why we choose to believe in the impossible: that life began on its own by accident. (2)
I think we have to go further and admit that the only acceptable explanation is creation. I know this idea has been ostracized by physicists, and in fact by me, but we shouldn't reject it just because we don't like it if the experimental evidence supports it. (H. Lipson, "A Physicist Looks at Evolution", Physics Bulletin, 31, 1980) (3)
• How do you explain the fact that evidence of gradual development from the same original cell is still missing ? The fact is that organisms do change within their heredity, and animals and plants can be bred, but the limits will be met very soon in these areas. We cannot speak of any major changes. The question is, where is the evidence that all current species, animals and plants, originated from the same primordial cell? For example, in Darwin's book The Origin of Species, there were no examples from this area. Darwin did bring good examples of variation within basic species and breeding, but they do not prove that organisms are inherited from the same original cell. Many atheist scientists have openly admitted that the evidence in this area is lacking. Gradual evolution has never been observed, although Darwin's theory requires it. There is also no evidence for this in natural history museums. Here are some comments from well-known paleontologists and representatives of natural history museums, as well as comments from Darwin's book. First, Stephen Jay Gould's comment (American Museum):
Stephen J. Gould: “I do not want in any way to belittle the potential competence of the gradual evolution view. I want only to remark that it has never 'been observed' in rocks.”… (4)
Although Darwin could not show transitional forms in On the Origin of Species, he would have been delighted to see how the fruits of modern paleontology have strengthened his theory … What is considered fossil evidence of a significant evolutionary transition? According to the theory of evolution, any two species, no matter how different, have a single parent species from which they are descended. This species could be called the “missing ring”. As we have seen, the possibility of finding such a single parent species among fossils is non-existent. There is simply too little surviving fossil record to justify the discovery of the parent species. (Jerry A. Coyne: Miksi evoluutio on totta / Why Eevolution is True, p. 60)
Dr. Etheridge, world-famous curator of the British Museum: In this whole museum, there is not even the smallest thing that would prove the origin of species from intermediate forms. The theory of evolution is not based on observations and facts. As comes to speaking about the age of the human race, the situation is the same. This museum is full of evidence showing how mindless these theories are. (5)
None of the officials in five large paleontological museums can present even one simple example of an organism that could be regarded as a piece of evidence of gradual evolution from one species to another. (Dr. Luther Sunderland’s summary in his book Darwin's enigma. He interviewed many representatives of natural history museums for this book and wrote to them aiming at finding out what sort of evidence they had to prove evolution. [6])
"It is quite ironic that a book that has become famous for explaining the origin of species does not explain it in any way." (Christopher Booker, Times columnist referring to Darwin's magnum opus, On the Origin of Species) (7)
• How can you prove that there has been life on Earth for millions of years? One of the most common ideas in the field of "science" has been that life has existed on Earth for tens, even hundreds of millions of years. However, if you believe in this view, how do you explain that, for example, dinosaurs, which have been considered as mannequins and representatives of millions of years, have repeatedly been found radiocarbon ( http://newgeology.us/presentation48.html ), blood cells [Morell, V., Dino DNA: The Hunt and the Hype, Science 261 (5118): 160-162, 1993], hemoglobin, soft tissues, fragile proteins and DNA [Sarfati, J. DNA and bone cells found in dinosaur bone, J. Creation ( 1):10-12, 2013; creation.com/dino-dna, 11 December 2012]. None of these substances should last for hundreds of thousands of years, let alone millions of years. In addition, human history repeatedly refers to dragons that resemble dinosaurs. This shows that dinosaurs actually lived at the same time as early humans. For example, Stephen J. Gould stated about the Behemoth mentioned in the Bible that the only animal that fits this description is a dinosaur ( Pandans Tumme , p. 221, Ordfrontsförlag, 1987). As an evolutionist, he believed that the author of the book of Job must have obtained his knowledge from fossils found. However, this one of the oldest books in the Bible clearly refers to a living animal (Job 40:10-12: 15 Behold now behemoth, which I made with you...). In general, it is impossible to tell which fossil is older than the other. If, for example, dinosaur, mammoth and human fossils are all in equally good condition and equally close to the surface of the earth, there is no reason to say that the dinosaur fossil is millions of years older than the mammoth and human fossils. It is not a question of scientific knowledge, but of a belief for which no proper evidence can be found. What about a 7-day week? For thousands of years, a 7-day week has been valid among different peoples. This has been the case even before the birth of the Christian faith. What is the reason? Surely the best explanation is that God made everything in seven days and the first people were aware of it:
We can find from time immemorial the knowledge of the seven-day week in the consciousness of all peoples - among the Ethiopians, the Arabs, the Indians - in a word, all the peoples of the East have at all times used this seven-day week, which is difficult to explain without admitting that this knowledge was received from the common ancestors of mankind." (8)
What can be concluded from the above? When it is claimed that the Christian faith and its representatives are anti-science, the claimants and atheists are much more anti-science. They believe and cling to theories that lack scientific evidence. They are views based on a naturalistic, or atheistic worldview, and are not based on real science. It is a question of these persons' belief in spontaneous birth theories, just as an ordinary person who believes in God believes that God created everything. However, if you look at the evidence, it is strongly in favor of God's creation work. That can't be proven after the fact either, but it makes more sense to believe that God created everything, including the stars and galaxies in space, the solar system and life. Second, there is ample evidence for the rest of the Bible's historicity. All the time, more archaeological and other material has been found that has confirmed the historicity of the Bible, both the Old and the New Testament. We will not discuss them in depth in this context, but for example dozens of people and places in the Bible are mentioned in other sources, so there are good reasons to believe in the historicity of these events. One example is also the Flood, which is evidenced by almost 500 flood stories around the world, as well as the remains of sea animals in all high mountains: the Himalayas, the Andes, the Alps... The following tells how fossilized fish remains have been found even on the top of the world's highest mountain, Mount Everest. Scientists are spiritually blind when they are unable to see clear signs of the Flood that happened several millennia ago. This event also explains the creation of fossils and how the soil deposits were formed by the influence of water. Scientists have thought that they were created over millions of years, but it is more reasonable to believe that the deposits were created in a disaster like the Flood.
In the glaciers of the Himalayas there are bones of oxen and horses. An avalanche of ice that originated on a glacier at an altitude of 5000 metres brought such bones. A large English expedition, reaching almost the top of Mount Everest, discovered petrified fish at these heights lying on the mountain. (9)
REBELLION AGAINST GOD WITHIN THE CHURCH
- (2 Peter 2:1,2) But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privately shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. 2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.
- (1 Tim 4:1) 1 Now the Spirit speaks expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
When it comes to churches, it would be natural that they would always strive to follow God's will and respect the teachings that came through Jesus and the apostles. This should go without saying. But what is the real situation? It is common for there to be many in the churches who dispute the fundamentals of the Christian faith, such as the historicity of the Bible, the meaning of Jesus' atonement, or judgment and hell. In addition, many do not believe in God's creation, even though the evidence clearly points in that direction. These liberal and "modern" priests have unquestioningly followed atheist scientists who have put forth imaginary theories based on a naturalistic world view, but for which evidence is lacking. These priests have turned to fables, about which e.g. Paul prophesied (2 Tim 4:3,4 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned to fables.) Because as stated, atheist scientists do not know how life originated, how the universe began, or why transitional forms between the main groups have not been found - they are not found in Darwin's book The Origin of Species (see Jerry Coyne's previous comment) or in natural history museums. They have lost the ball in this area, although many have the (false) impression that these scientists are clear about these things. They aren't. The question of whether man was at the beginning of creation or only at the end belongs to the same category. Liberals and "modern" priests have adopted the idea that there has been life on Earth for millions of years, and that man appeared on Earth only at the very end, some hundreds of thousands of years ago. They arrogantly reject the idea that man and other animals existed from the beginning and only a few millennia ago. However, they do not take into account that, for example, certain historical knowledge of human history only extends back 4,000 to 5,000 years, and no further. At the same time, things like the first cities, the first buildings, agriculture, pottery, language, and culture appeared—things that fit well with biblical history. Many evolutionists like to talk about prehistoric and historical times, but there is no proper evidence that prehistoric times existed e.g. 10,000 to 20,000 years ago, because buildings and things mentioned in the list are not known for sure from that time. What about other life on Earth? As stated, there is no basis for believing in millions of years. If fossils, such as dinosaur fossils, contain radiocarbon, blood cells, soft tissues and DNA, we cannot talk about millions of years. It is also remarkable that not a single coal deposit has been found that does not contain radiocarbon (Lowe, DC, Problems associated with use of coal as a source of 14 C free background material, Radiocarbon 31(2):117-120, 1989). These facts speak strongly against millions of years. It is reasonable to assume that all life, including humans, has existed on Earth from the beginning, and it is by no means millions, but only thousands of years. Evidence from fossils points in this direction. In addition, it can be assumed that fossils, coal deposits and most soil deposits on Earth were created in connection with the Flood. It explains many natural formations that atheist scientists believe took millions of years to form. However, the most important criteria are the words of Jesus, the son of God. He taught that man was already at the beginning of creation, and not until at its end. Liberal theologians and "modern" priests thus claim Jesus as either ignorant or a liar when He taught the opposite of modern atheist scientists. This is a very strong indictment. The question is who is right, Jesus or the atheist scientists, who are unable to give proper explanations for how it all began, and whose views liberal priests follow:
- (Mark 10:6) But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.
-(Matt 19:4) And he answered and said to them, Have you not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female,
The fact that "modern" priests deny the early history of the Bible, such as creation and the flood, is one side of the matter. They also deny the miracles performed by Jesus and the apostles, such as healings, resurrections, food miracles and other miracles mentioned in the Bible, although, for example, the historian Josephus and the Talmud have referred to the miracles performed by Jesus and the apostles. What is the cause of these people's attitude? Are they more scientific than those who believe in the former things? This is not the issue at all, it is about their disbelief. They have an attitude of disbelief that rejects any supernatural possibility. In reality, they have adopted a naturalistic worldview in which the universe is closed to God's influence. They are a kind of atheist in the guise of religiosity. This is also why they believe in the theory of evolution and that life arose by itself without God, although neither has been proven. What can be concluded from the above? Many priests and liberal theologians have become "blind leaders of the blind ", which Jesus mentioned (Matt 15:14 Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.). Moreover, in their spiritual blindness, they are often proud and arrogant towards traditional Christian teaching, and do not thirst for a deeper knowledge of God and for Him to influence the change of society. They are like the representatives of the Laodicean church, who were self-sufficient and satisfied with their status. Their main problem seemed to be that Jesus stood outside the door of their hearts, meaning they had apparently never received Him into their lives and been saved. Such people are written about in the following verses.
- (Rev 3:14-22) And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things said the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; 15 I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot: I would you were cold or hot. 16 So then because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth. 17 Because you say, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and know not that you are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: 18 I counsel you to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that you may be rich; and white raiment, that you may be clothed, and that the shame of your nakedness do not appear; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. 21 To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. 22 He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit said to the churches.
Moral change in the church . It was stated above how liberal theology and unbelieving attitude towards the descriptions of the Bible is an indication of the prevailing development in the church. Through preconceived notions based on a naturalistic worldview, attempts have been made to deny the historicity of the Bible, for which there is, however, enormous evidence. That is, when dozens of people, places and events in the Bible are mentioned in other sources, there are good reasons to believe in the historicity of the Bible. Moreover, as far as the present form of the Bible is concerned, it is equal to the oldest Manuscripts. It is pointless to claim that the Bible changed along the way, as liberal theologians and many Muslims believe. None of them can say when the changes were made, who made them and to what points. It's all about their imagination. However, denying the historicity of the Bible is only one side of the matter. The other side is changing morals. Many priests and bishops no longer respect the teachings that came through Jesus and the apostles. They especially question sexual morality, i.e. that sex is only right in a marriage between a man and a wife, not elsewhere. Instead, these priests and bishops have started to support the so-called equal marriage between people of the same sex. They do not note numerous verses that prohibit homosexual relations and that sex belongs only to marriage between a man and a wife, not elsewhere - not even to other heterosexual sexual relations (Lev 18:20,22, Rom 1:24-28, 1 Cor 6:9,10, 1 Tim 1:8-10, Jude 1:7, Matt 19:4,5, 1 Cor 7:1-5). What can be said about this? I think the question of equal marriage is misleading, because all people have always had the right to marry with the opposite sex within the church. Instead, now only the border between right and wrong has been moved. The representatives of the new morality have moved homosexual behavior and so-called equal marriage to the that side of the border that was once considered wrong but now right. So these liberals and the so-called modern priests no longer lead people to repentance because they do not consider homosexual behavior a sin. They believe they represent equality, love and human rights when they defend the marriages between these people and act like this. As for the current development, I don't think it can be stopped and there is no point in arguing. Basically, in this matter, as in liberal theology, the question is whether the teaching of the Bible is reliable and binding on everyone (cf. Gen 3:1 "Yes, has God said..."). If you do not believe that the teachings of Jesus and the apostles are current and binding on everyone, it is natural that you act according to the currents of society. You believe you are more right than Jesus and the apostles, on whose teaching and example the first Christian church was born. You rebel against the fact that God is the source of morality, and that the teachings of Jesus and the apostles he appointed would be true and current. The own words of Jesus, who was also called the Word of God (Rev 19:13 ... and his name is called The Word of God.), fit well with this:
- (Matt 15:6-8) 6 And honor not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have you made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. 7 You hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, 8 This people draws near to me with their mouth, and honors me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
- (John 14:15) If you love me, keep my commandments.
The Catholic Church and its development . The Catholic Church and its development has its own chapter. Many consider the Catholic Church to be Christian, but it doesn't have much to do with it. In many ways it has become the exact opposite of what Jesus and the apostles taught. Of course, the Catholic Church still has some priests in the living faith, but the more centuries have passed, the fewer there are and the more the church has diverged from the biblical faith (This has happened and is happening to all old churches. The Lutheran Church is also following in the same footsteps). Popes and church leaders have taught something completely different from what Jesus and the apostles taught. In addition, the lives of many popes and priests over the centuries have been a testimony against the Christian faith. They have lived completely contrary to what Jesus and the apostles taught. One example of this is the widespread sexual abuse of children that has been encountered within this church. I am not saying that man cannot fall. Yes, this can happen because of the weakness of every person. However, if a person does not want to live according to God's will, he is certainly not in living faith. (When many non-religious people and atheists blame the church for the wrongs done over the centuries, they are right. I myself acted like this when I was an atheist. But I did not understand at the time that most of the wrongs in the churches are due to the fact that priests, such as Catholic priests, have not been saved. Or simply the teachings of Jesus and the apostles have not been followed. The fault is not in their teachings but that they have not been followed. They repeatedly warned against self-exaltation, greed, wrongful use of power, sexual immorality and other wrongdoings.) As evidence of the papal church's delusions and its rebellion against God, e.g. the fact that Mary is often more important than Jesus. Mary has superseded Jesus' position as the only mediator and the only way to God (John 14:6 Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes to the Father, but by me.) In practice, this means that Catholics pray Mary (or other saints) and put their hope in her and not in Jesus. Likewise, they can put their hope in their repentance and penance. As a result, when they put their hope in the wrong things, they lack salvation and assurance of salvation and are not true Christians. They are alike in a sense like the Pharisees of Jesus' time, who were supposed to represent God, but who in reality were completely against God's will and had not received salvation.We know that Jesus gave his greatest rebuke to these religious representatives (eg Matt 23). The Catholic Church represents a kind of mixed religion. Christian vocabulary is mixed in, but idolatry is at the center of it all. The following quotes tell about this confusion and idolatry:
It has sometimes been said that Haiti is 90% Catholic and 100% Voodoo. Of course, the claim is not entirely true, but it nevertheless highlights the fact that the dichotomy of Haiti's religious history has never been a confrontation between two separate groups of people. Almost all voodoo practitioners would call themselves Catholic, and most Catholics practice voodoo. Haitian voodoo is a mixture of Catholicism and West African religiosity, where ancestors are worshiped and parents allow their children to become possessed by their ancestors and other spirits. (10)
On the other side of the world lies the Philippines, a nation strongly influenced by folk Catholicism. There, Catholics hold annual processions and wild carnivals celebrating the Black Nazarene, the Queen of Heaven, and many different saints. The "queen of heaven" is an idol already mentioned in the Old Testament (Jer 7:18). Vatican Radio reported that 12 million Filipinos had walked barefoot in a carnival procession with a statue of the Black Nazarene in January 2016. The report continues: "The worship of the statue dates back to the 17th century, when the Philippines was under Spanish rule." It also mentions that the statue has a "miraculous aura". (11)
The previous examples showed how idolatry has been strongly mixed with the Catholic religion. When in modern times some evangelical Christians feel drawn to Catholicism, its mysticism and liturgy, I think they are clearly going in the wrong direction. Why should one look for light from where there is intense darkness, idolatry and false ways of salvation? This is not an accusation against anyone, but Catholic people need to experience a real conversion and rebirth. When they receive Jesus into their lives, there is no need for useless idolatry and false substitutes such as praying to the saints.
ANTI-GOD AND MORALITY . The subject of this writing has been rebellion and hatred towards God, i.e. how people reject God and Jesus Christ. The atmosphere in Western countries is such that God is wanted out of decision-making and society as a whole. This also applies to morality. Abandoning the Christian faith has led to the fact that the teachings of Jesus and the apostles about right and wrong are no longer popular. In addition, there is a kind of moral superiority in Western countries. We talk about Western values and compare them to other countries, but we don't take into account that values and appreciations have changed in Western countries all the time, for decades. Things that were clearly wrong before are now supported and considered right. The value base, which used to be built on the Christian faith, has mainly crumbled and a new morality and moral concepts have taken its place. This new morality has often been defended in the name of love, but is it a question of distorted love and selfishness? This is what we will consider next. We start with whether the development has gone in a better or worse direction.
Has the development gone in a better or worse direction? If we first look at the greatest commandment of the Christian faith, it is the commandment to love one's neighbor along with God. This comes up repeatedly in the teachings of Jesus and the apostles. Every non-religious person will surely admit and know in their heart that this is the most important moral lesson. Even if he is not familiar with the Christian faith, he knows in his heart that stealing, betraying others, racism, child abuse, murder and rape are wrong and against the obligation to love one's neighbor. Jesus and the apostles taught on the subject as follows:
- (Matt 22:35-40) Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, 36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37 Jesus said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like to it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
- (Rom 13:8-10) Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For this, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, You shall not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 10 Love works no ill to his neighbor: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
- (1 Cor 13:13) And now stays faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
- (1 Joh 4:11,21) Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. 21 And this commandment have we from him, That he who loves God love his brother also.
But has the development gone in a better or worse direction? If the Christian
faith and God are given up, will people then be better and more loving or
worse in their behavior?
The heading of the front page: School: ESS poll reveals, teachers subjected to violence, vandalism, threats and parents’ rage
The poll that the teachers took part in: How do you think the behavior of students has changed over the last few years? 2,6% it has gotten better 23,1% it has stayed the same 74,4% it has gotten worse
The poll of OAJ: Students are the worst bullies to teachers in the whole country according to the poll 50% of elementary school teachers have experienced bullying over the last year. (Etelä-Suomen Sanomat 23.10.2016)
A father hits his child and a son hits his mother more and more often. Violence of parents towards children has more than doubled in ten years. (ESS 3.10.2019)
… As a professional of healt care, I bring to your attention the behavior of patients. When I was on call in the central hospital in the emergency room in 1974, it didn’t even come to mind that a patient would be violent or make threats. Today it occurs continuosly in the emergency room. They must have learned it from somewhere. So what happens, when no one (from Finnish people) doesn’t want to serve – or teach? With the loss of discipline, we have also lost civilized behavior. Restoration of discipline is simple, if you will. The will seems to be directed towards adapting to the consequences of indiscipline. More resources, more resources, more debt. Well, that is what the undisciplined policymakers will do. Jyrki Joensuu, a specialist doctor in general medicine and psychiatry, Lahti (Etelä-Suomen sanomat 17.10.2016 / Lukijalta [Etelä-Suomen sanomat 17.10.2016 / from the reader])
Intoxicants take younger and younger to institutions. The number of notifications and the cost of institutional care have increased enormously. (ESS 7.11.2019) Violence experienced by municipal employees has increased The job barometer of the Ministry of Employment and the Economy (TEM) shows that violence experienced by municipal employees and the threat of it have increased drastically in less than ten years. (Etelä-Suomen sanomat 15.2.2017)
A billion soon for institutional care for children and young people. Children's problems have escalated drastically since the beginning of the 1990s … The institutional care of one child can cost up to EUR 100,000 per year while proactive supporting measures in outpatient care could be offered with a couple of thousand euros. (Etelä-Suomen Sanomat, 31 October 2010)
“Violence among children is becoming more common …Aggressiveness of small children has increased in Finland (Etelä-Suomen sanomat 20.11.2013)
Youth referrals almost doubled Psychiatry: The mental health problems of young people have increased in recent years across the country. In Päijät-Häme, the number of referrals of young psychiatry increased by 40 per cent per year. (ESS, 30.5.2017)
Young people's minds faltering. Mental health: Referrals to specialised medical care in youth psychiatry have increased dramatically... (ESS, 25.9.2018)
What can be concluded from the above? If progress has been made, it has not been made in the most important matter; in love for other people. The news shows how people's behavior towards each other has worsened and the sickness of children and young people has increased. The direction of development is clearly negative, not positive.
New moral values and love. Above, it was brought up how people have knowledge about love and its meaning. Everyone naturally understands that loving one's neighbor is right and that it should be followed. New moral values have also been justified in the name of love. It is used as the main argument in defending them. However, one does not think that what is considered love is often selfishness or a distortion of love. Let's take a few examples.
• In the 1960s, came the so-called sexual revolution. What was new about this? The question was not so much about increasing the amount of sex, but that it was separated from marriage, to which it only belongs according to Christian teaching. Adultery, premarital sex or other promiscuous relationships are against God's will, as Jesus and the apostles taught:
- (Matt 19:4,5) And he answered and said to them, Have you not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, 5 And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall join to his wife: and they two shall be one flesh?
- (Hebr 13:4) Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled: but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.
- (1 Cor 7:1-5) Now concerning the things whereof you wrote to me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. 2 Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband. 3 Let the husband render to the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife to the husband. 4 The wife has not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband has not power of his own body, but the wife. 5 Defraud you not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.
These were verses on this subject that the proponents of the new morality question. They don't take them into account, but defend sexual relations outside of marriage by saying that "If both love each other, then sex between a man and a woman is not wrong". The question is, has this been beneficial for the children? Are they doing better or worse nowadays than, for example, 50 years ago? There is no ambiguity about this, because the mental health of children and young people has been deteriorating all the time, as shown by the previous news about the deterioration of the mental health of children and young people. This is directly related to the fact that more and more children are born out of wedlock. Because even at the end of the 1960s, only 5% of children were born out of wedlock, but now the figure is around 50%. This shows that talk of love is not reality. It is often a question of selfishness and not love, because children have not been taken into account. Parents must be committed to each other so that the position of the children is secured when they are born. This is what the lifelong marriage of parents is for.
• Divorce is one fruit of the new morality. Just over a hundred years ago, there were only about 100 divorces a year in Finland, but now almost every second marriage ends in divorce (in cohabitations that are against God's will are divorced even more often). It has been said that if spouses no longer have love for each other, it is better for them to separate. Likewise, a married person may fall in love with a person who is not their spouse. He considers it love, but can abandon his spouse and children for it. In this matter, the pressure from society affects the acceptability of divorce. If it doesn't exist, or if divorce is even encouraged, it reduces the commitment to the marriage. It is not considered important to make an effort for the good of the relationship, even if it is still possible to continue in the marriage. It is not thought that love is above all a matter of the will. Emotions can rise and fall, but love requires action of the will. It's certainly not easy, but you should strive in that direction. Divorce is against God's will:
- (Hebr 13:4) Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled: but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.
- (Matt 12:39) 39 But he answered and said to them, An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:
- (Mal 2:14-16) Yet you say, Why? Because the LORD has been witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously: yet is she your companion, and the wife of your covenant. 15 And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And why one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth. 16 For the LORD, the God of Israel, said that he hates putting away: for one covers violence with his garment, said the LORD of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that you deal not treacherously.
- (Mark 10:11,12) And he said to them, Whoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, commits adultery against her. 12 And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she commits adultery.
What is the consequence of divorces? They affect children and future generations. David Wilkerson, who spent years working with drug addicts in New York, stated that most of the addicts who come into their midst came from broken homes, that is, the parents had divorced. There are of course exceptions, but parental divorce seems to be the main reason why children and young people go down the wrong path:
At Teen Challenge, most – if not all – of the young men and women who end up at our center are those who come from broken homes. Children, even toddlers and babies, can sense the tension between parents. Our experience at the center shows that divorce causes more teenagers to slip into drugs, sex and alcohol than drug dealers and bad influences combined. God spoke to me about this by saying, "If you want to help young people, talk to their parents about their marriage." (12)
• Position of children. As stated, distorted love can lead to the deterioration of children's status. In this area, people only talk about the human rights and equality of adults, but forget the interests of children and the right to both parents. Children are made like playthings because of the distorted love and selfishness of adults. Parents' divorces and selfishness in sex life easily lead to neglect of children. Rainbow families and fertility treatments for single women are also an example of the thoughtlessness of adults (Fertilization treatments can be considered very questionable because they destroy fertilized eggs. Human life begins when gametes unite and fertilization takes place). It's not that these people can't function well as a parent. It's not about that, it's about deliberately making a child fatherless or motherless from childhood. It can be considered the selfishness of adults towards children, because numerous studies have shown that father and mother are both necessary for children's psychological development. Parents do well if they take this into account when having children:
David Poponoe, sociologist, Rutgers University: Social science research hardly ever achieves sure results. However, in my three decades of work as a social scientist, I have come to know few sets of facts where the weight of evidence is so crucially on one side: overall, families with two (biological) parents are better for a child than single-parent or blended families. (13)
Research clearly shows that the structure of the family matters for children and that they are best supported by a family structure, that has two biological parents in marriage leading the family, and that the parents' level of conflict is low. Children in single-parent families, children born to unmarried mothers, and children in blended or cohabiting families are at greater risk of developing in a bad direction... That is why it is important, for the child, to promote strong and stable marriages between biological parents. (14)
• One of the current trends is the rise of homosexuality. It's always been there, but the modern thing is that thousands of ordinary heterosexuals can march for it and defend it in the name of love, like extramarital sex. It is thought that if both members of the same sex love each other, they can have sexual intercourse or even marry each other. In this matter too, many do not respect the teachings of the Bible. According to it, love, like ordinary friendship, is right, but sexual relations outside the marriage of an ordinary man and wife are always wrong - be they heterosexual or homosexual sexual relations. The latter is referred to e.g. in the following verses:
- (Lev 18:22) You shall not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.
- (1 Cor 6:9,10) Know you not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortionists, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
- (Jude 1:7) Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
So what does supporting homosexual behavior lead to? We should definitely love people regardless of whether they think differently or what their sexual orientation is, but regardless of everything, homosexual behavior has long-term negative consequences, such as the following.
• It increases sexually transmitted diseases, which homosexuals have more than average . It's because they have more sex than other people on average. • It increases society's expenses, because AIDS drugs and treatment can cost tens of thousands of euros per patient • It shortens people's life span, because the life span of homosexuals is often 10-20 years shorter than that of other people. The reason for this is certainly the unhealthiness of this lifestyle and the fact that many homosexuals use drugs and alcohol more than other people. • Homosexuals have more mental health problems and alcohol and drug use than usual. I personally see that it is because most of them have traumatic experiences in their lives. The same traumatic factors, such as difficult interpersonal experiences or experience of sexual abuse, may have predisposed them to homosexual behavior. However, encountering God's grace and love is the best way to free yourself from the bonds of alcohol and drugs and traumatic experiences. When a person understands God's love for him, his inner person begins to be freed and healed. Yes , a person is certainly still tempted by the same things after coming to faith , but it is a different thing to live with a loving God than to live without that.
If one further brings up the reason why people march for homosexuality, it is surely because they see it as an innate quality. However, many homosexuals themselves do not believe this. They consider the influence of the home and the seduction of another person to be the most important factors, as the following quote shows:
I read an interesting study by an expert: it was a survey to find out how many actively homosexual people believed they were born that way. Eighty-five percent of the interviewees were of the opinion that their homosexuality was a learned way of behaving caused by destructive influence early on in their home and enticement by another person. Nowadays, my first question when meeting with a homosexual is usually, “Who gave you the inspiration for it?” All of them can answer me. I will ask then, “What would have happened to you and your sexuality if you hadn’t met your uncle, or if your cousin had not come into your life? Or without your stepfather? What do you think would have happened?” This is when the bells start to toll. They say, “Maybe, maybe, maybe.” (15)
(Addition: In general, the innateness argument is one of the worst reasons to justify one's own behavior. Then a murderer, adulterer and pedophile could justify all their actions by saying that they were born that way, without moral responsibility. This is certainly not the case. Feelings, desires and carnal love can be wrong , leading to wrong actions. Yes, man still has responsibility for his actions before God; Rom 14:12: "So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God." The innateness argument has also been used for those people who do not accept their gender they got at birth. However, there may be similar background factors as in homosexuality, such as that the parents have wished for a child of the opposite sex and expressed it to him. This may have caused the child's thinking to go off the wrong track. It is an identity problem similar to, for example, the eating disorder anorexia nervosa, where a person does not accept his body as it is, but considers himself too fat, even if he is quite thin. There is nothing wrong with the body itself, but every person's thinking can cause problems.)
• One of the commandments in the Bible is "Do not kill" (Mark 10:19 You know the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honor your father and mother.). It means taking the life of another person. However, even this commandment has been questioned specifically in the name of love. In Western countries, euthanasia has begun to be brought up, which actually means killing a person, although beautiful words such as "dignified death" can be used, etc. Current hospice care has begun to be questioned, as if it were inhumane, even though the patient's suffering is trying to alleviate to the last degree. Current painkillers have the ability to eliminate most of the pain. Accepting euthanasia is like a slippery slope. Development does not stay in one place, but always goes in a certain direction. In all countries that have accepted euthanasia, it can be seen that it has expanded to more and more vulnerable groups such as children and people with mental health problems. They too have been killed. Here I see a similar development as in Nazi Germany. Then the idea of a life that was not worth living was accepted. In the beginning, this only applied to seriously and long-term patients. Gradually, the circle of those to be killed was expanded to socially unproductive, ideologically dissident, racially discriminated and finally to all non-Germans. The following quote tells more about the topic. Now we are walking in the same footsteps as decades ago and repeating the same mistakes of history. Walter Trobisch has referred to this in one of his books:
I remember a movie that was shown in Germany during Hitler's time. It told about a doctor whose wife had an incurable disease. The film showed in detail how the disease tormented the woman until her husband killed her with an overdose of sleeping pills. After being tried for murder, the man defended himself by saying: "I loved my wife." Here God's commandment "Do not kill" in the name of love was called into question. Hitler used this film, which was shown in 1940, as a psychological preparation for killing the terminally ill and insane, for clearing out people he considered worthless. And the end was the murder of six million Jews in the gas chambers of the concentration camps. If we try to set standards for love ourselves, we will fall into Satan's hands. When Germany questioned the commandment "Do not kill" in the name of love, it fell into the hands of the devil. If today we question the commandment "Do not commit adultery" in the name of love, we will likewise fall prey to Satan. (16)
• Abortion and its acceptance is also a questioning of the commandment "Do not kill". Even this commandment has been questioned in the name of love: "it is better for the child if he is born as desired". It is not thought that the parents should always love the child, regardless of whether he was wanted in advance or not. Similarly, it may have been explained that a woman has the right to decide about her body. This is certainly true, but the child is a separate individual in the mother's womb, and not a part of the mother's body. The body does return to normal after pregnancy, but the child in the mother's womb cannot be said to be a part of the mother's body. (This kind of bogus language, “a woman has the right to decide over her own body,” often occurs in connection with abortion. You hardly ever hear abortion advocates say outright that parents have the right to kill their children.) Generally, if pro-abortionists are asked if they approve of the killing of innocent people and children, they say "no". However, they don't seem to have internalized the fact that in abortion it is precisely the child and an innocent person who is killed. Human life always begins at conception and not at birth, and that has also been generally acknowledged by biologists. In a recent survey that asked 5,577 biologists around the world when life begins, 96 percent of them said it begins at conception (Erelt, S., Survey asked, 5,577 biologists when human life begins. 96% said conception; lifenews.com, 11 july 2019) . In addition, when abortions are performed (usually approx. 8 weeks after the start of pregnancy), the aborted child already has eyes, hands, mouth and normal body organs at that stage. It is false to talk about a lump of tissue, because it is clearly a child, just smaller than a newborn or a two-year-old child. Spiritual blindness and hardness is the main reason why people march for abortion rights and defend this cause fiercely. Only God can awaken the conscience of these people in this matter. It is almost the same thing as the abandonment of children in antiquity. Parents left their unwanted children to die because they did not accept them. This cruel custom disappeared with the spread of the Christian faith.
• It was stated above that the greatest commandment is to love God and one's neighbor. Here is one of the moral touchstones: do we have love for our neighbors, especially for those who are different and think differently (we believers must also strive to love e.g. non-believing priests, representatives of sexual minorities and other groups whose views differ from ours. We are doing wrong if we don't do this. Jesus too was a friend of sinners, even though he urged them to repent) For example, anti-foreigners are increasing everywhere in Western countries, and they no longer want to accept any refugees from other countries. (However, one must beware of excessive migration flows from poor countries, because it is a springboard for xenophobia. It would be better if people could be helped in their home region.) Many foreigners also experience direct resistance and racism, which is completely against God's will. One of the criteria for judgment is how we have treated these people as a nation:
- (Jer 22:3) Thus said the LORD; Execute you judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place.
- (Matt 25:40-46) And the King shall answer and say to them, Truly I say to you, Inasmuch as you have done it to one of the least of these my brothers, you have done it to me. 41 Then shall he say also to them on the left hand, Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 For I was an hungered, and you gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink: 43 I was a stranger, and you took me not in: naked, and you clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and you visited me not. 44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we you an hungered, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to you? 45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Truly I say to you, Inasmuch as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me. 46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
HATRED OF JESUS CHRIST AND THE GOSPEL . When it comes to the basic matter of the Christian faith, it is Jesus' death on the cross for us. This makes forgiveness of sins possible for every person in the world, even those who have been enemies and mockers of God. Everyone can receive the gift of eternal life when they want to repent, turning to God and Jesus and asking for forgiveness of their sins. This is good news for every person in the world. But does this fact make people happy? Mostly no. You will soon find that if you tell people about this, they will reject it. Resistance is either passive or active. Passive resistance means that people simply turn their backs on the message of salvation and ignore it. They have all kinds of excuses why they turn their backs on God and the message of salvation. The following words of Jesus tell about such people:
- (Luke 14:15-20) And when one of them that sat at meat with him heard these things, he said to him, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God. 16 Then said he to him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many: 17 And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready. 18 And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said to him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray you have me excused. 19 And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray you have me excused. 20 And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.
What about active resistance? It means persecutions against representatives of the Christian faith. Representatives of the Christian faith are by far the most oppressed minority in the world. Thousands upon thousands are imprisoned for their Christian beliefs and thousands have been killed every year for their faith. According to the World Watch research unit, about 365 million Christians suffer severe persecution and discrimination because of their faith. This used to happen in communist countries and today especially in Islamic countries. Muslims strongly reject the forgiveness of sins that comes through Jesus Christ and persecute his followers. Here the words of Jesus come true, that " ...yes, the time comes, that whoever kills you will think that he does God service. And these things will they do to you, because they have not known the Father, nor me" (Joh 16:2,3) and "Remember the word that I said to you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do to you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me" (John 15:20,21) and again " Blessed are you, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake" (Luke 6:22). So there were verses on the subject, the words of Jesus, which have really come true. Muslims, like many other groups, strongly reject Jesus Christ and the proclamation of him. They hate Jesus Christ and do not accept the forgiveness of sins that comes through him. What about the situation in Western countries? Here we live in a post-Christian age, where people are nominally Christians and maybe members of churches, but they do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and they have not turned to God. Usually, their opposition to God is passive, in which case they do not care about the message of the gospel. They reject it with all kinds of excuses, citing e.g. to the theory of evolution, to the wrongs that happened in the circles of the churches, and to the evil and suffering in the world. When I was an atheist myself, I used exactly these excuses, because of which I thought belief in God was absurd. Most people still use the same excuses when they resist the message of salvation and turning to God. What about more active opposition to God in Western countries? I am convinced that in Western countries we are going in the same direction as in former communist countries and Islamic countries, where the opposition to the message of the gospel has been strong. Signs in this direction have been visible little by little (cf. Jer 16:12, which well describes such a development: "And you have done worse than your fathers; for, behold, you walk every one after the imagination of his evil heart, that they may not listen to me"). I personally think that there are three degrees of resistance that follow each other:
Media activity
- (Is 5:20) 20 Woe to them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
Media activity is the first step. When the same negative views about the traditional Christian faith and its representatives are repeated year after year and week after week, it makes people's minds negative towards the gospel message, Christian morality and God. This does not mean unbelieving priests and liberal theologians who deny the fundamentals and moral teachings of the Christian faith. They have always been favored by the media, because they repeat the same views that even wicked people have (cf. 1 John 4:5: "They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world hears them." Likewise, Jesus spoke as follows, Luke 6:26: "Woe to you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.") That is, when these priests and liberal theologies defend e.g. the theory of evolution, sex outside of marriage "if both love each other", abortion, homosexuality behavior that children don't have to have a father and a mother, so the media won't attack them. On the other hand, if you teach God's creation work and traditional Christian morality, you will not be very popular and you will be attacked, especially if you hold public office. One example of this is when former foreign minister Timo Soini lit a candle abroad in memory of the children who had been killed through abortion. He was harshly attacked and people talked about human rights, that is, in practice, that innocent children are allowed to be killed. This is how easily black becomes white and bad becomes good. Another example is the positive attitude towards homosexuality. If someone "comes out of the closet", i.e. announces his homosexual orientation, even though he lived in a heterosexual relationship before, he is considered a hero in the media. Instead, if someone reports the opposite change, they are considered a rogue. This is how society's opinion has changed due to the influence of the media. The peculiar thing is, as already stated, that the representatives of the media and the new morality believe that they are acting in the name of love. In the name of love, children can be killed, etc. Instead, if you defend children's right to life and to their father and mother, or talk about sexual matters as Jesus and the apostles taught, you will be considered narrow-minded, homophobic and behind your time. This type of media behavior has become more and more common in Western countries over the years and I believe it will continue to increase (Of course, I also believe in revival and that many will change their perceptions, but the general trend will hardly change in Western countries). I myself think that this belongs specifically to the development of the end times just before Jesus comes. Society is going to the same state as in the days of Noah and Lot, when the earth became full of violence and people's thoughts and actions were evil. Paul also spoke about the same thing in his prophecy about the people of the last days. He stated that people would then become enemies of the good. This has really happened, when in modern times good is called bad and bad is good, and when people's behavior towards each other has constantly deteriorated anyway:
- (2 Tim 3:1-5) This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 Without natural affection, truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4 Traitors, heady, high minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
- (2 Tim 3:10-13) But you have fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, long-suffering, charity, patience, 11 Persecutions, afflictions, which came to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me. 12 Yes, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. 13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
Legislation. The media's activity was the first step in why opposition and persecution against those who believe in Jesus increases and why people turn their backs on the gospel message. When year after year and week after week the same issues are drummed up negatively and injustice is defended, people's perceptions and attitudes begin to change. This has happened e.g. in the moral concepts mentioned above. However, it is not taken into account that public opinion can often be badly wrong. What happened in Germany in the last century is an example. More books were printed in this country than in other European countries, but still public opinion was badly wrong due to constant propaganda. For example, just before the Second World War, more than 90% of Germany's youth belonged to the Hitler Jugend youth organization. This shows that public opinion is not a good measure in moral or other matters. In any case, when public opinion has changed due to the influence of the media, the next step is that the people's rulers change the laws. It is accepting what was previously considered wrong and denying what is right. I am convinced that most Western countries are going in this direction. However, it is not taken into account that wrong decisions increase society's costs and problems. If the wrong things are favored in legislation, such as the loosening of the divorce law in the 1980s, it increases the breakup of families and social costs. Housing allowances and other forms of support have increased considerably as a result of these decisions (ESS 25.1.20122: Divorces will be expensive for many - Divorces will be expensive for society, estimates executive director Heljä Sairisalo of the Union of Single-Parent Families. According to him, as many as a quarter of single parents have to rely on income support. / ESS 8.1.2017: The pace of subsidies is accelerating all over the country... The total amount sunk into general housing subsidies has doubled in the 21st century...). I don't think that legislation in itself will change anyone for the better. However, the observation is that if something that was previously considered wrong is legalized, it increases the wrong behavior and the resulting disadvantages and costs. One example is a positive attitude towards alcohol and drugs. Every time the alcohol legislation has been relaxed, it has increased alcohol-related deaths, health problems (health care is already overburdened) and traffic accidents. It is shown by e.g. following headings. Likewise, freer access to drugs leads to problems. For example, the state of Colorado in the USA legalized the recreational use of cannabis in 2012. As a result, the use of marijuana among adults almost doubled. Traffic deaths involving the use of marijuana doubled. The load on hospitals increased, school suspensions became more common and other financial costs increased. For every dollar raised in marijuana taxes, Colorado had to spend $4.50 on treating negative consequences.
THL: Deaths and liver diseases caused by alcohol increased after the reform of the alcohol law (Orimattila news 10.1.2023)
Police: The new alcohol law has increased alarm duties The new alcohol law has increased the police's alarm duties, the police estimated on Monday. Police alert missions increased by more than 12,000 between January and July, and according to the Police Board, the increase is explained by the changes in the alcohol law. (ESS 21.8.2018)
Liquor causes more victims on the road The increase in alcohol consumption has previously doubled alcohol-related deaths in traffic (ESS 3.4.2004)
Lawsuits. When people's opinions and perceptions have changed due to the media's constant negative brainwashing and when laws are changed as a result, the last step is trials against those who express "wrong opinions" and controlling what can be said in society and what can be declared in churches. The result can also be the interruption of a working career, as has happened to many. Freedom of speech and religion will be removed, as happened in Nazi Germany and communist countries. The trial of MP Päivi Räsänen is one example (Of course, Jesus warned about this in advance: " 19 But when they deliver you up..." Matt 10:19. Jesus himself was also in court, just as Paul was in court and in the end they were sentenced to death. Similarly, 11 of the twelve apostles experienced martyrdom, so there is nothing new in the matter.) I don't mean that freedom of speech is removed from all matters. It is specifically about wrong opinions that are related to the previous moral issues, especially homosexuality. For just as the war against Ukraine cannot be criticized in today's Russia, there is a different kind of development in Western countries, where the sexual teaching that Jesus and the apostles proclaimed is criminalized. It is a different kind of totalitarianism than in today's Russia, former communist countries or Nazi Germany. Therefore, I believe that there will soon be whistleblowers in the churches who will monitor the declaration if it is not, for example, in accordance with the representatives of the current gay movement. This is one consequence of a God-hating society. The following quote says something about the narrowing of freedom of religion and speech. The authors appearing in the book do not represent the Christian faith, but they too have noticed the direction of development. They see that value liberals are driving freedom of religion and speech away.
Those who call themselves value liberals threaten the very freedoms that classical liberals considered the basis of a free society. Because of them, dissidents are allowed to fear for their freedom of speech. They come to our bedrooms to see if money is being exchanged and march to our companies to see if there are enough women on the board. They infiltrate our churches to dictate what is allowed to be preached about sexual ethics, while checking that it is certainly preached by a woman. (17)
Here I will take a quote from Richard Wurmbrand's book "Kirkkautta kidutuskammiossa" (p. 94). He was in prison for 14 years for his faith and wrote about whistleblowing during that time. I believe that the West is moving in the same direction more and more. Modern moral changers who hate God and do not accept the teachings of Jesus and the apostles are at the forefront of this development:
Whistleblowing had spread like a disease. People could become embezzled if they talked about God, prayed out loud, or even learned or taught a foreign language. The person pointing the finger could often be a friend, outside or inside the prison, son, father, wife, husband. The pressure to embezzle was brutally heavy. The traitor was probably a Worse Threat to the "free" than to those already behind bars, and in room 4 the speech was freer than anywhere else in Romania, because none of us would survive.
HATRED OF JEWS AND ISRAEL
- (Joel 3:1,2) For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.
- (Rom 11:1) I say then, Has God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
When this writing talks about hatred towards God, one of its manifestations is hatred towards the Jews and Israel, i.e. hatred towards God's own people and land, as the previous verses showed. If you hate God, it is likely that you are also negative towards Israel and the Jews. Centuries-long anti-Semitism, which manifested itself most strongly during Hitler's time, is one example of this. Moreover, the same hatred manifests itself especially in the activities of the UN. No other country has had as many negative resolutions in the UN as against Israel. The following statistics on the activities of the UN describe the states' attitudes:
Condemning resolutions of the UN General Assembly by country 2015-2021: • Israel 112 • Russia 13 • Syria 8 • USA 8 • North Korea 6 • Iran 5 • Myanmar 5 • All other countries in the world total 0
Condemning resolutions of the UN Human Rights Council 2006-2021: • Israel 95 • Syria 37 • North Korea 14 • Iran 11 • Eritrea 11 • Venezuela 2 • All other countries in the world total 0
Condemning resolutions of the UN Commission on the Status of Women 2015-2021: • Israel 4 • All other countries in the world total 0 (18)
What is the origin of anti-Semitism and hatred of Israel in modern times? Is it because Israel is an apartheid state where the Jews oppress the Palestinians, as many suggest? The answer is that abuses certainly do happen and there can be injustice. Israel's regime has not been perfect. However, it is wrong to say that Israel is an apartheid state (E.g. Hamas's attitude completely resembles apartheid and Nazi ideology. They have wanted to destroy Israel and all Jews. The current war has resulted from that). For example, Israel's own Arabs are practically in a better position than Arabs in general, especially compared to the Arabs of their neighboring countries, and they know it. They have a better standard of living, better healthcare, more freedoms and equality than other Arabs. In addition, there are Israeli Arabs as MPs, judges and ambassadors, which shows their influential position. Therefore, not many Arabs in Israel would be willing to exchange their status with the Arabs of other countries or under the Palestinian Authority. The majority of them are satisfied with their position, which has become evident e.g. From polls conducted by the Israel Democratic Institute. According to them, 57% of Israeli Arabs rated their situation as good or very good, which indicates their good status. And what about the status of the Palestinians who have lived in the West Bank and Gaza? These areas were under Israeli rule after 1967, but later, in 1993, the Palestinians gained autonomy, i.e. self-government. Did this self-government improve their position or how did it affect them? Were the Palestinian leaders better rulers than the Israelis had been? Tass Saada, who fought in Arafat's forces, but who later moved to America to live, shares his observations about this. After a break of years, he returned to the Palestinian territories, the West Bank and Gaza, and asked the Palestinian residents about the situation. Many of them saw that their position was better under Israeli rule than under Palestinian self-rule:
I arrived in Ramallah early to get a feel to the city… I deliberately drove several different taxis to get a chance to talk to the drivers. I have noticed that this is an excellent way to explore the city atmosphere. "Well, what is it like to live here today?" I asked innocently. “Not good,” almost everyone said. “Life is pretty miserable. Ever since the Palestinian Authority took the reins, the situation has actually worsened, ”they claimed. “Abu Ammar himself is a great, real fighter to the end. We love him. But his representatives don’t know how to handle things at all. They demand bribes from everyone - it doesn’t make sense. Of course, the Israelis on the border do not trust the Palestinian Authority either, and so they have tightened their grips even further - more rules, more papers, more restrictions. It was actually better when they were here and decided everything! Of course, it's awful to say, but it's true. ” These opinions made me sad. I remembered what I wanted to talk to my former hero… … I was once in Gaza in a taxi with several other passengers. I looked at the traffic and said, “There are a lot of taxis! You have a lot of competitors, don't you? ” “Yeah, it's robbed of control,” the man said. “Everyone who has a car wants to make money with it. Soon there will be more drivers here than passengers, ”he sighed. Then he continued, “When the Israelites ruled here, things were different. Everything was in better order.” (19)
So where does the hatred towards Israel come from? Or what is the origin of Hamas's attacks on Israel, which ultimately resulted in the current war - similar to the wars of 1948, 1967 and 1973 when Israel was attacked by the surrounding Arab powers? There is hardly any secular explanation for this matter. No secular person can give an answer to that. Instead, the teaching of the Bible is better, that it is God's own people - even though they are separated from God and do not know him - and that explains the anger. There is a spiritual reason behind it. If Israel were an Arab state, there would be no such hatred. Only through a spiritual explanation can this topic be understood and approached. The following quote gets to the heart of the matter. While Muslims often have a strong hatred towards Israel, it disappears when they turn to Jesus Christ. This has happened to several ex-fanatic Muslims:
We at Al Hayat, on the other hand, have not been able to keep quiet. As a result, in the last 20 years we have seen hundreds of fanatical Muslims become like different people after encountering the love of Jesus. Some of them serve God today on our channel or in its background groups. I often see them at Christian conferences—ex-Muslims who used to hate Christians and wanted to kill all the Jews in the world—hugging Messianic Jews and American co-religionists, whom they used to call representatives of the "Great Satan". Some of them have even visited Israel to see the places where Jesus walked. (20)
CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS. As stated, there is strong anti-God in today's society. It manifests e.g. in having a positive attitude towards things that were previously considered wrong. Homosexual sin, for which Sodom and Gomorrah are known, is now welcomed (Jude 1:7). Now children are killed in the womb, just as the Canaanites killed their own children, and were met with the wrath of God (Deut 12:31 You shall not do so to the LORD your God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hates, have they done to their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.). Likewise, in modern times, people's behavior towards each other has weakened and aggressiveness has increased. It can predict the same kind of society and development as in Noah's time, when "The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence" (Gen 6:11). I personally see the development going strongly in this direction, even more so when the leaders of the nations are no longer able to negotiate peacefully. Of course, Jesus mentioned that before his coming there would be wars and disturbances (Matt 24:6-8,12,21): “And you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that you be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.... And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold... For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be." Either way, people get the kind of society they want. If they want God out of all areas of life; about society, politics and language, it is possible. However, this model has been repeated in the last century to a large extent, i.e. Is this what people want? Communists acted like that when they wanted to eradicate belief in God from people. The Bible was a forbidden book in these countries, and they taught false, atheistic stories about the birth of the universe. Likewise, just before the Second World War, blasphemous ideas gained support in Western countries, especially in Germany. At that time, there was widespread separation from the churches, it was claimed that science had made belief in God impossible, and there was opposition to God-superstition, as the following quote from a book shows. It was published in 1934, i.e. five years before the Second World War. Today and opposing God is not much different from the situation in the 1930s:
From time to time, there have been mass movements of abandoning the church in several countries after the war. Thus, in Germany in 1920, 305,000 people left the evangelical churches. This escape from the church has continued. In 1930, in Berlin alone, 59,225 persons renounced the Lutheran Church, not to mention those Catholics and Jews who abandoned the faith of their fathers... We need not say much about the spread of blasphemous ideas in the 20th century. Suffice it to say that the number of those who publicly confess or tacitly accept the absolute non-existence of God has increased immeasurably. Some men who are considered scholars claim that modern science makes belief in God impossible. They either completely stop believing in God or present that "science requires a new understanding of God". This denial of God begins among children at school. In some cities, thousands of 6-14 year old children, starting from elementary school, have walked the streets carrying the following posters: "“God out of schools”, “Take down God-superstitions”, " Religion is an anesthetic” etc. (21)
Based on the previous situation, the situation does not look good. I don't expect the world situation to get better because people are prone to evil and because history always repeats itself. When people think they've moved on, they keep repeating the same mistakes they've made before. When the leaders of the nations and others after them reject God, worse times can be expected. I believe that only the coming of Jesus in his glory and power will stop this development.
GOD'S WRATH AND LOVE . When this article has dealt with people's hatred towards God, the matter can also be looked at from the other side, i.e. God's hatred towards sin and evil. Many consider God to be some old harmless thunderbolt sitting on the edge of a cloud who does not react to anything, neither good nor bad. They also think that if heaven exists, everyone will get there. However, this is not a description of the Bible, but an understanding based on people's own imagination. The Bible repeatedly teaches about God's wrath against people who love sin and evil. In fact, only such a God can be good who opposes evil, and that is exactly the God of the Bible (1 John 1:5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.). He hates sin and will condemn unrepentant people to hell. It is completely wrong to think that God takes unrepentant and unrighteous people to heaven. Then he would give his consent to wrongdoing. He will never do that. God's anger towards sin and the fate of the unrepentant are told by e.g. the following verses:
- (Rom 1:18-20) For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; 19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God has showed it to them. 20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
- (Rom 2:4-6) Or despise you the riches of his goodness and forbearance and long-suffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? 5 But after your hardness and impenitent heart treasure up to yourself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; 6 Who will render to every man according to his deeds:
- (Eph 5:5,6) For this you know, that no fornicator, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. 6 Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things comes the wrath of God on the children of disobedience.
- (Col 3:5,6) Mortify therefore your members which are on the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: 6 For which things' sake the wrath of God comes on the children of disobedience:
- (Rev 20:12-15) And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And whoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
So what should a person do to get into a right relationship with God? Of course, he should repent of his sins and confess them to God. Confession of sin does not earn you salvation, but it is a necessary step in order to enter into a right relationship with God. So confess all your sins that come to mind to God:
- (Prov 28:13) He that covers his sins shall not prosper: but whoever confesses and forsakes them shall have mercy.
- (1 John 1:9) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Second, you must understand that God is also love. Although he hates sin, he loves sinful people and wants them to be saved and repent. He himself has prepared the way to heaven for us through his son Jesus Christ. You don't need human achievements to get salvation and go to heaven, because Jesus did everything for us. Jesus took our sins to the cross so that they would no longer be an obstacle between God and us. About God's love for people and how sins have been atoned for through Jesus, are told e.g. in the following verses:
- (Joh 3:16) For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
- (Rom 5:6-10) For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 8 But God commends his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. 10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
- (1 John 4:10) Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
- (2 Cor 5:18-20) And all things are of God, who has reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses to them; and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be you reconciled to God.
So, if you don't want to face God's wrath, but his love, which has been revealed through his son Jesus Christ, turn to Jesus and put your trust or faith in him. Confess your sins to God and ask Jesus to be the Lord and Savior of your life. He is the only way to God's communion, because through him sins have been atoned for. So don't reject Jesus, lest you lose salvation and eternal life:
- (Joh 14:6) Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes to the Father, but by me.
- (Joh 10:9) I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
- (Joh 5:39,40) Search the scriptures; for in them you think you have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. 40 And you will not come to me, that you might have life.
Salvation prayer. Lord Jesus, I turn to you. I confess that I have sinned against you and that I have not lived according to your will. However, I want to turn from my sins and follow you with all my heart. And I also believe that my sins have been forgiven through your atonement and that through you I have received eternal life. I thank you for the salvation you have given me. Amen.
REFERENCES:
1. Richard Dawkins: Sokea kelloseppä, p. 20 2. 7. Dennis Lindsay: ”The Dinosaur Dilemma”, Christ for the Nations, vol. 35, No. 8, November, 1982, pp. 4-5, 14 3. H.S.Lipson: “A Physicist Looks at Evolution”, Physics Bulletin, 1980, 31. vsk., p.138 4. 2. Stephen Jay Gould: The Panda’s Thumb, (1988), p. 182,183. New York: W.W. Norton & Co. 5. Gordon Lindsay: Evolution – The Incredible Hoax, Christ for the Nations, Dallas, Texas, 1977, p. 16 6. Citation from "Taustaa tekijänoikeudesta maailmaan", Kimmo Pälikkö ja Markku Särelä, p. 19 7. Christopher Booker: “The Evolution of a Theory”, The Star, Johannesburg, 20.4.1982, p. 19 8. Tri John Kitto kirjassa Encyclopedia of Biblical Literature, II, hakusana "Sabbath", p. 655 9. Raamatullinen aikakauskirja, p. 17 10. Per-Arne Imsen: Ei muita jumalia (Inga andra godar) / No other goods), p. 70 11. Per-Arne Imsen: Ei muita jumalia (Inga andra godar) / No other goods), p. 72 12. David Wilkerson: Tuli hänen luissansa (Fire in His Bones), p. 267 13. David Popenoe (1996): Life without Father: Compelling New Evidence That Fatherhood and Marriage Are Indispensable for the Good of Children and Society. New York: Free Press. 14. Kristin Anderson Moore & Susan M. Jekielek & Carol Emig:” Marriage from a Child’s Perspective: How Does Family Structure Affect Children and What Can We do About it”, Child Trends Research Brief, Child Trends, June 2002, http:www. childrentrends.org&/files/marriagerb602.pdf.) 15. Bill Hybels: Kristityt seksihullussa kulttuurissa (Christians in a Sex Crazed Culture), p. 132 16. Walter Trobisch: Rakkaus on tunne, joka on opittava / Love is a feeling to be learned, p. 29 17.. Timo Vihavainen, Marko Hamilo, Joonas Konstig: Mitä mieltä Suomessa saa olla, p. 44 18. Risto Huvila: Miksi Israelista pitää puhua, p. 254,255 19. Tass Saada: Taistelin Arafatin joukoissa (”Ich kämpfte fur Arafat), p. 203, 278 20. Aaron Ibrahim: Islamin muureja murtamassa, p. 223 21. L.H. Christian: Kylvöä ja satoa, p. 114,115
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Jesus is the way, the truth and the life
Grap to eternal life!
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