WHAT I BELIEVE
by Stan Paregien, Sr.
Copyright 2001
NOTE: If it were not such a long title, this essay might be more appropriately titled, "What I Believe The Bible Says." The Bible is, first and foremost, the basis of my faith. And what follows is clearly my current understanding ( or interpretation )of what the Bible teaches, pending further research and guidance by the Holy Spirit.
Furthermore, I have taken the approach as though I were explaining the Christian faith to a non-believer, or even to a non-believer with a limited English vocabulary. So when possible, I have chosen short and simple terms over long, theological terms.
Most Christians believe that the Bible is the word of God and that it presents the only dependable record of what God has done and what he wants done. Therefore, the touchstone question in any religious discussion should be this: What does the Bible say?
However, the fact that there are 66 “books” in the Bible, each divided into chapters and verses, sometimes causes new readers to think the Bible is a bunch of unconnected stories. They sometimes have trouble seeing the bigger picture or message. So let’s look at the Bible this way. From the first chapter Genesis to the last chapter in Revelation, the Bible is the story God’s love and how he provides a way of salvation for those who will accept it.
Some have described the “big picture” in the Bible like this: The theme of the Old Testament scriptures (the first 39 books of the Bible) is, “Someone is coming.” The theme of the first four books of the New Testament is, “Someone has come.” And the theme of the rest of the New Testament is, “Someone is coming again.” That great “someone,” the Bible teaches, is none other than God the Son, the one called Jesus the Christ (“Messiah”).
God Made the World
I believe the Bible, then, is God’s love letter to his creation. And in that Bible we find that the triune God, who is love, long ago shattered an eternity of silence when he spoke the Word and created the “heavens and earth” as we know them (Genesis 1:1 to 2:3). God and nature are not the same. It was God the Father who spoke the word and created the world, a world that is separate from and completely dependent upon God to keep it going.
God Made Humans
The Bible says that God, who is love, followed that action by creating humans in his image (Genesis 2:4-25). That is, he made us with an inner sense of need for a loving relationship with God and with each other. That gift of love has God as its source. And he enjoys receiving the love that we return to him and give to others, though God is not dependent upon it for his completeness. For, you see, love is the nature of God. And God in that nature, consisting of the Trinity ( God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit) there is always an interactive, dynamic and communal love.
Question: Why did God create the world and then create humans to live on the earth? Through the centuries some have said that God was lonely and that was why he created us, but that is wrong. The Bible says that God, being three members yet one, was complete and lacking nothing. There was in God’s very being a holy interaction between God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
The simple answer to the question is this: God created the world and humans because . . . he wanted to do so. That’s it. The Trinity is love, so there was no reason to create anything as the object of his love ( I John 4:8). He wanted to create us because of his innate generosity.
When this idea dawned on Martin Luther centuries ago, he wrote that God acted out “of his sheer fatherly kindness and compassion, apart from any merit or worthiness of mine. For all of which I am bound to thank and praise him, to serve him and to be obedient, which is assuredly true.”
Sin Enters
What does the Bible say about sin? After a period of time, the first two humans did something God had told them not to do. He told them, specifically, to not eat a particular fruit in the Garden of Eden. Despite that clear command, they went ahead and ate the fruit. And so Adam and Eve, led astray by the devil, sinned against God and suffered because of their action (Genesis 3:1 - 24).
And so started a cycle that is still being repeated today. A person (1) tries to do what God wants; (2) sooner or later makes a mistake (i.e., sins); (3) is punished by God; (4) promises God he will change his life and do better; (5) receives God’s forgiveness; and (6) goes back to point #1 and goes through the cycle again and again.
We read about such individuals and groups (particularly the nation of Israel) in the Old Testament. Time after time, God blessed them only to have them sin against him. And so he punished them, often using their enemies to inflict the punishment. And all during this period of history they were looking for that “Someone” to come and truly save them from that vicious cycle.
The Selection of Israel
God, who has all authority and may do whatever he chooses, for many years chose to deal directly with the heads of families. He told them what he wanted and encouraged them to follow his will.
Eventually, though, God decided to choose a whole nation to be his special people and to deal with them as one entity. But why did God choose the nation of Israel over the many other nations in the world at the time?
Well, the Bible says that God’s choices are always based on love, never on one’s merit or worthiness. And so we must conclude that he chose Israel out of love and leave it at that. As Moses himself said to Israel, “The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the Lord loved you . . . .” ( Deuteronomy 7:7 ).
The goal of this relationship, as revealed to the people by Moses, was to get them to love God and obey him. “Hear, O Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your fathers, promised you. Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:3 - 5).
Love and obey. The requirement is still the same today for us. We are to love God and obey him, just as the nation of Israel was told to do. However, Israel loved and obeyed and disobeyed, repeatedly. God was not surprised by the sinful ways of the people. After all, he created them. And God is omniscient or all-knowing. He saw the problem coming and had formulated the answer eons before.
God the Son Becomes Human
When he felt it was the right time, God the Father sent God the Son to this earth from heaven to be born of a young Jewish woman, a virgin named Mary. The place was Bethleham of Judea, and the time was about 4 B.C. That which was from above (the Son) was about to be brought together with those who were below (people who would accept his Lordship). When God the Son was born as the baby Jesus, we called it the “Incarnation”. God became flesh and lived among us for some 33 years.
Jesus, who was called The Christ (or Messiah), taught his disciples both by his words and by his example. He taught them how to live for God and how to die for him. The story of his life and teachings may be found in the first four books of the New Testament, called “The Gospels” (accounts written, respectively, by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John). This part of the Bible loudly proclaims that “Someone (the Savior) has come!”
What Believing in Jesus Means
What does the Bible say about believing in Jesus? In the Gospel of John we read these words of Jesus: “No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven–the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son” ( John 3:13 - 18).
That was wonderful news then, and it is wonderful today. God, in his grace, made salvation from our sins and eternal life with him available through believing in God the Son. Now, “believing” does not mean just understanding that Jesus was a historical figure or even accepting that he was who he claimed to be: God the Son. Lots of people do that kind of believing, but are still not saved. The kind of believing that counts in God’s sight is when you put your trust in Jesus Christ as your Lord or Savior, when you make a commitment to do whatever God wants you to do. That is Biblical “believing,” and the only kind that saves.
The Cross
Then there was the crucifixion of God the Son, who was both God and Man at that time. It was the unique combination of what came from above (the Son) with what was raised below (Jesus the Man) that made our salvation possible.
And that sacrifice was planned by God the Father before the creation. That is why the Bible describes Jesus as “the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world” (Revelation 13:8).
Jesus died on the cross for your sins and mine. It was his death that allowed God to pronounce us as "innocent" and accept us, rather than condemning and punishing us.
Baptism
Just before he went back to heaven, Jesus gave these instructions to his people: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age" (Matthew 28:18-20).
The followers did exactly as Jesus commanded. Just a short time later, the apostle Peter confronted some believers with these words: "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off -- for all whom the Lord our God will call" (Acts 2:38-39). And those who heard the will of Jesus did not stand around debating it. "Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day" (Acts 3:41).
Let's review. Jesus commanded his apostles to teach people about him and, having taught them, to baptize those who believed him him and repented of their sins. The apostles taught people about Jesus, and those who believed and repented were baptized. And as a result, those believers who were baptized (1) were forgiven of their sins, (2) received the gift of the Holy Spirit, and (3) were added to the church or group of baptized believers.
From that day to this, millions of people around the world have come to love Jesus and accept him as their Lord. And in loving obedience they obeyed his command to be baptized, and they received the blessings that flow from that work of God. That is because God's plan of salvation is so simple and straightforward that the common person can understand it.
It is also clear that true Christian baptism ( believer's immersion) is only for that person who believes in Jesus as Lord and who repents of his sins because he loves God and wants to please him.
In the 1983 film Tender Mercies , Robert Duvall plays the part of Mac Sledge. Sledge was once a successful country singer, but he becomes an alcoholic and hits rock bottom in a run-down West Texas motel. There in his misery he meets the widow Rosa Lee who hires him to do odd jobs for room and board. Under her influence, Sledge begins to see the error of his ways. Finally, he becomes a different (i.e., new) person when he is baptized. His old way of life died and was buried with Christ in baptism.
Before baptism we are all deader than a doornail, spiritually, for we are dead to righteousness and alive to sin. We may sometimes want to be holy before God, but we have no way to accomplish it. We messed up real badly every time we turned around, and we knew it.
However, in the beautiful act of being baptized we admit we are dead. And when something is dead, you bury it. So we submit to the burial of that old body or person. We go down into the water a dead sinner, but with faith that God will keep his word and change us. We can’t fully explain it or even understand it. But in baptism we are symbolically buried with our Savior (God the Son), just as his dead body–killed because of us and for us–was placed in a burial tomb.
So there we are, dead and buried. What good are we at that point? Absolutely no good. Our dead body is rotting in the grave. But something glorious happens when we are raised up from the watery grave, in a symbolic re-enactment of how Jesus was resurrected from his grave.
The apostle Paul taught that those who are baptized into Jesus are baptized into his death. He says, "We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no lover be slaves to sin -- because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.
"Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
"In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace" (Romans 6:4-14).
It is during the act of baptism that God the Holy Spirit breathes life–eternal life–into us. We receive the Holy Spirit as a gift (again, it is God’s work and not our’s) to empower us to defeat the devil and to live for God.
And the benefits at the time of one’s baptism are all works of God or the Trinity, not works of man. It is God the Father (Jehovah) who forgives sin because of the blood of God the Son (Jesus). It is God the Holy Spirit who in baptism frees us from sin’s bondage and binds us to God the Son. It is God the Son with whom we are symbolically buried in the waters of baptism, an action done to us and not by us. And it is he–not us–who snatches us back from that grave in a resurrection-like change that frees us from the power of the devil. It is God who adds us to his spiritual family as members of the body of Christ, the universal church of God.
Now in searching out other believers to love and fellowship, that new Christian who is a Spirit- added member of the family (or church or kingdom) of God may become an earthly member of ABC Church or XYZ Chapel. And that church, as a group, may be wrong on some details of Christian doctrine or practice. The new Christian would want to share with them what his understanding is about how to follow the Lord more perfectly (1 Thessalonians 3:10). But neither he nor they will ever understand everything in the Bible exactly alike nor will they always practice their beliefs exactly alike. And that is okay. Because the love of God binds us together as strongly as it binds us to him.
Unity in diversity may be uncomfortable at times, but the alternative is the disgrace of dividing the body of Christ. We can’t imagine being so cruel as to pull one arm or leg off of Jesus, but that is in essence what we are doing when one Christian unlovingly pulls away from another.
Saved to Serve
Now, let’s be clear about one point here. The salvation process, as described here, is not an end in itself. We do not accept God’s grace just to be saved from our past sins or even from future punishment. We accept God’s grace and his own justification of us in his eyes so that we may praise him and glorify him and serve him with joy until the last breath we draw. We live for him, not to win his love (which we already have) but to please him as we do our parents. We serve him and follow his “house rules,” not just to keep from breaking his Law but to keep from breaking his heart. We love him because he first loved us.
Evangelism
What is our responsibility toward people who have not yet been born again? What about the status of the person in the Amazon jungle who has never heard of Jesus? What about that Jewish businessman you sometimes deal with? What is the spiritual status of a new baby? Or a young child who dies without accepting Christ? What does the Bible say about all this?
First, we must remember the absolute love of God. He is love and has shown that love to us through the act of God the Son and the leading of God the Holy Spirit. So whenever we have an opportunity, let us do good to them and share the Good News that God has created a means of salvation through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That means we are saved, initially and continually, by the work of God the Son–not by our own works.
Second, we must remember the absolute power of God. He does not need for any one of us to presume to make his decisions for him. It is within his power to do whatever he may choose.
Third, we must remember the absolute knowledge of God. He alone knows the minds and hearts of people. The apostle Paul would remind us that it is not for us to judge somebody else’s servant.
Fourth, the Bible never condemns one who is merely an unbeliever (i.e., one who has never heard or never understood the gospel of Christ). The apostle Paul, looking back at the time when he had lived as a sincere unbeliever (i.e., had not understood or rejected the gospel), argued “I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day” ( Acts 23:1). And Paul also said: “Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief” ( 1 Timothy 1:13).
Yes, Paul in his early life was a Jew who did not know the gospel. He was sincere in following the amount of light that he had at the time, thought he was in error in both his understanding and behavior. But as he received more light (or understanding), he followed wherever it led. And that is the mark of the person whom God seeks for his own, as he revealed long ago: “This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word” (Isaiah 66:2).
Or as Alexander Campbell, an early American religious thinker once wrote, “A Christian is one who believes that Jesus is the Christ, repents of his sins, and obeys him in all things according to his understanding.”
So, again, God’s Word, the Bible, never condemns one who is merely an unbeliever. And Paul seems to lay down a general principle of Christian living when he said our gifts to God are “acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have” (2 Corinthians 8:12). You can’t donate money you don’t have, so there is no condemnation for that failure to give. And you cannot believe in Christ if you have never had the gospel explained to you, so there is no condemnation in that type of unbelief.
However, God clearly condemns anyone who understands the gospel and then rejects it. Jesus himself said, “There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day. For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it” (John 12: 48-49).
Christian Unity
The basis of Christian unity, like the foundation of Christianity itself, is the quality of love. Not long before he was crucified, Jesus told his followers: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:34-35).
And a few days later Jesus was in prayer and, after praying for his apostles, he said: “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, must as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (John 17:20-21).
So we are to love and accept and work and worship with other Christians. And the reason, besides for our own benefit, is to bring others to Christ by that powerful demonstration of a Spirit-given love that overcomes cultural, ethnic, economic, racial and political barriers.
Does that mean all believers must meet under the same roof or hang the same name on the church house door? Absolutely not. It would be absurd to think that a group of believers in Capetown, South Africa would have to dress and sing and teach in exactly the same ways as a group of believers does in downtown New York City or in a village in Honduras. Such diversity is to be expected and tolerated, not squelched.
Christian unity means that we love each other, even when we disagree on some things, and that we work together whenever we can for the glory of God. It is an attitude of openness and receptivity toward other believers, graciously accepting them and their differences (what we may even think of as doctrinal errors) just as God through grace has accepted us.
After all, we are all travelers on this spiritual journey and each of us brings with us some “baggage” from our past that we find hard to unload. So we lovingly strive for unity on the basic truths of Christianity (Ephesians 4:4-6), while granting liberty in other matters (Romans 14:1).
That means, of course, that each person has both the right and the responsibility to prayerfully study God’s Word for himself or herself and to share that light with others. We must stand united on what the Bible clearly says, while allowing for differences of interpretation on matters that are less clear or unstated. Or to put it another way: In matters of faith (clear Bible teaching), unity; in matters of opinion, liberty; and in all things, love.
Does our Lord’s mandate for unity, as well as our longing for unity, mean that we are to tolerate any and everything other believers may do? Certainly not. For not everyone who calls himself a Christian really is. Some people have heard the statement that the United States is a Christian nation and on that statement alone consider themselves to be Christians, though they have never accepted Jesus as their Lord in any way, shape or fashion.
In addition, there are people who – even though they are Christians – are living lives that actually bring dishonor to God. And the Bible teaches that there are two major conditions under which believers are to limit their fellowship or communion with such believers.
First, we are to discipline those who demonstrate ungodly behavior or attitudes. Those sins include such things as (1) refusing to support one’s family (1 Thessalonians 4:11-12; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-14); (2) failure to repent of personal wrongs against another believer (Matthew 18:15-17); (3) continuing in immorality behavior (1 Corinthians 5:5,11-13; 1 Thessalonians 4:3- 8; 2 Peter 2:4-22); and, (4) living selfishly (2 Timothy 3:2-5).
Second, we are to disciple those who dishonor the work or person of Jesus the Christ. That includes such sins as (1) causing division among believers (Titus 3:10); (2) blaspheming and denying the general resurrection (1 Timothy 1:20; 2 Timothy 2:16-18); (3) looking to one’s own works, rather than the grace of God, for salvation (Galatians 5:4); and (4) denying that Christ actually came to the earth as a human (2 Peter 2:1-3; 2 John 7-10).
Of course, in this matter of discipline, love must be the motivation. “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sin” (1 Peter 4:8).
The Future (Escatology)
The Bible promises that at some point in time, when those living least expect it, the Lord Jesus will come again to rescue his disciples “from the coming wrath” and to take them to heaven with him (1 Thessalonians 1:10; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17; 5:1-11). Even those Christians who have died and are buried will rise to meet him when he comes.
We are all, saint and sinner, destined to live forever (Isaiah 51:6; Revelations 20:10). That experience will be totally different for those who are saved as opposed to those who are lost. I believe those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior will spend eternity in heaven with God. There may be some hard times in between, when many Christians may be called upon to suffer for their faith (1 Peter 4:12-15). But we are told , “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:6-7).
In addition, I believe those who reject Jesus Christ as their savior are subject to spending eternity in what the Bible calls “hell,” a horrible place ruled by the devil himself (Matthew 5:22, 29-30; 10:18; 18:9; 23:15,33; Mark 9:43,45,47; Luke 12:5; James 3:6). Jesus himself said that whoever believes in him “is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son” ( John 3:18). None of us can say whether a given person will go to hell or not, though we have definite ideas about it. God, who has supreme authority, can save anyone he may choose. However, he has not promised to save those who reject Jesus.
Back to heaven, for a moment. What will it be like? Will we know each other? There are lots more questions than answers. According to the Bible, heaven is a wonderful place that is free from pain and sorrow. It is the home of God, his angels and those whom God accepts (Isaiah 66:22; Matthew 3:17; 5:16, 34-35; 6:1,9; 7:11,21; 10:32,33; 12:50; 16:17; 18:10,14,19; 23:9; Luke 11:13; Hebrews 1:3; 8:1,5; 9:24).
The fact is that there are probably more speculative theories about the second coming of Christ, judgment day, heaven and hell than about all the rest of the Bible put together. Opinions are okay, of course, unless someone in misguided zeal tries to make his opinions a matter of faith and starts denouncing those who do not agree. As always, we should ask: “What does the Bible say?” Or as Paul said long ago, “Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil” (1 Thessalonians 5:21-22).
My wish for each reader of my words is that you may come to know Jesus as your Savior and to experience the joy of Christian living. May God “strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones” (1 Thessalonians 3:13).
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