The Devil Doesn’t Touch Christians?

Happy Sabbath to y'all. I am battling rattling lungs and a cough and sniffly sinuses, but I think I am on the upswing for better health. Here's to a nice warm, sticky weekend!

I have recently thought about the promise of God that the Elect are free. Free from the chains of having to sin. Free from having our thought-life consumed by thinking about sinful actions. And free from a life that is characterized by sin. Praise Jesus Who for freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. (Galatians 5:1). Now I am also wrestling with one of those tough verses 1 John 5:18 which I think has application to the topic of freedom in Christ. Here is 1 John 5:18:

We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him. (ESV)

So did we read this right? The Devil does not touch anyone who is born of God? Let's place this in context with another section of the Bible, the wonderful Book of Job. In this we see the righteous servant of God Job. And the Devil accuses Job before God on the grounds that God has blessed Job so much that if everything was taken away, then Job would "curse" God (Job 1:11). And so God lifts His protection from Job and allows Satan to attack him with all of the worst tragedies a person can face in this life: Job's 10 children were killed (Job 1:19), all of his property and wealth were stolen by thieves (Job 1:15-17), and Job's good health was taken by horribly painful sores all over his body (Job 2:7). And through all of this, Job did not sin with his lips and did not curse the Lord (Job 2:10).

So how does the story of Job help in explaining 1 John 5:18's teaching that Satan does not touch the Elect? I think that if we look at the main objective of Satan against Job (to cause Job to sin, to curse God – Job 1:11), we see the close connection between Satan and our own sinful nature. This means that Satan wants us to become slaves to sin, and to thereby have our lives filled with sin (whatever consumes a person to that he is enslaved – 2 Peter 2:19). And so, there is an intertwining of our sinful lives and Satan. We want to sin, and Satan helps us to do it.

We see this drawn out in 1 John 5:18, where the verse starts out by saying that those born of God do not keep on sinning. Does this mean that long-time Christians will live perfect lives? No, I don't think so. Even the Apostle Paul considered himself a "wretched man", and that there was a war taking place in his mind - I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. ^24 What a wretched man I am! (Romans 7:23-24) And so, Christians are in a battle against their own sinful lusts and desires, and a powerful enemy is attacking us to have us go back to our previous sinful life.

So what is Paul's shout of joy in facing this battle that we are involved in?His shout is this Who will rescue me? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Romans 7:25)
Our Rescuer is the righteous life lived by Jesus the Messiah, and His perfect sacrifice offered on our behalf that saves us from our sins. Through Jesus' death, and our faith making Jesus our Lord and Savior, we are now "dead" to sins (Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? ^2 By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? - Romans 6:1-2). And so we see the reason for Paul's joyful praise in Romans 7:25, the Elect are rescued by Jesus, and by His death we are now dead to sins. How much can a dead person be tempted to sin? It's hard to sin when your eyes can't see, your tongue can't speak, and there are no feelings in your members, right? And so our death to sin provided by Jesus is the source of the freedom that is provided to us all who call Jesus Lord (Galatians 5:1). We are free to no longer sin! Yeah!

Thus, though Satan can "touch" us by harming our possessions, our health, even by harming our loved ones as he did with Job (if God so permits), he cannot touch us by making us sin. To that, we are protected.

My take away application is this - Do you feel free? Do you feel as though you are dead to all of the sins that have plagued you in your past life? Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. (1 Peter 2:16). Thanks be to God for His Grace and for sending His Son. Amen.

The Bible – Has it Changed Over Time?

Happy Fishing Opener to everyone in Minnesota. The fish must be biting, but who cares when you have the beautiful weather that we have this weekend.

Let me discuss in a little bit more detail what I posted as a comment to my most recent post. A common charge against the faith of Christians is that the Bible is untrustworthy. I'll call this "the Evolution argument", and by this I mean that because everything changes over time, then the Bible must likewise also be unreliable because it was written so long ago. It must have changed a lot since it was originally written, right? These people who attack the faith suggest that later Christians must have changed the Bible to add things about Jesus that couldn't be true, like His Divinity. And so, this is an important topic. If the Bile is unreliable, why should anyone trust what is said about Jesus?

 

1. The Example of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
   

The Dead Sea Scrolls are the oldest untouched copies of the OT books.

 

Here's my technical artistic depiction of the difference between the DSS and the Masoretic text <grin>:

Dead Sea Scrolls roughly 100 AD -------------------------------------à 1950 AD discovered

(The Dead Sea Scrolls not touched or copied for 1,850 years)

 

Masoretic Text of the OT copied again and again for over 2,000 years:

        llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllà copied many times over 2,000 years. And it still is 95% the same as what is contained in the Dead Sea Scrolls. And no significant doctrine is effected by any of the copyists differences. Instead, most of the differences are minor, mostly consisting of spelling variations.

 

The Masoretic Text is the same as the Dead Sea Scrolls. Example of Isaiah 53. DSS and the Masoretic text are 95% identical. If any OT text was going to be changed by Christian copyists it would be the prophecy about the Messiah contained in Isaiah 53. But instead there are only 17 differences between the DSS and the Masoretic text.

1. 10 of the 17 differences is alternate spellings (similar to in America 'Judgment' is spelled without the 'e', while in Great Britain it is spelled 'judgement' with the 'e' in the middle.) These differences have no effect on any meaning,
   
2. 4 of the 17 differences are the addition of a conjunction. Again, no change in the meaning.
   
3. 3 of the 17 changes are contain in Isaiah 53:11, where it says 'They shall see", and the DSS add "light" which is not contained in the Masoretic text. Again no change in the meaning.
   

 

And that's all of the changes between the Dead Sea Scrolls that are pure, uncopied, untouched for 1,850 years and the Masoretic text of the OT which was repeatedly copied for over 2,000 years. They are identical in meaning, with only a very few, minor changes, with most of these differences being spelling changes. And it is the same with the other portions of the OT as well. The text contained in the DSS is the same as the Masoretic text, again with only a few, immaterial differences between the two manuscripts. This is the best example showing that copyists of the Bible took their job seriously, and that we are able to trust that the Bible we now have in our hands today is a near-perfect copy of what the original author wrote.

 

1. Early Papyrus from Gospel of Matthew.
   

Here is another reason to trust in the Bible's authenticity of being what the original author's actually wrote:

Papyrus Discovery
In 1994, a segment of the Greek text of Matthew's Gospel appears to now have been dated before AD 66. This Papyrus, P64, contains segments of Matthew 26:23, 31 on both sides of three fragments. 

Carsten Peter Thiede, then  Director of the Institute for Basic Epistemological Research in Paderborn, did the research on this Papyrus. According to The Times of London, December 24 1994, he determined, "that the Gospel according to Matthew is an eyewitness account written by contemporaries of Christ."

It appears that within five years after the death and resurrection of Christ, most of His words and deeds had been committed to a simple written (Tom's note, perhaps a common verbal group of stories) Hebrew form and Matthew is, of course, assumed to be part of this compilation. Within a decade, this corpus would have been translated into a Greek version for church requirements. This body of information is often called the "Q-document" (for German, quelle, source). Around the year AD 50 the original material was developed into written Greek form and the "synoptic" Gospels were composed, probably since the persecutions were imminent. The key point is that eyewitnesses were still around to verify the details.

While some argue that Matthew, as an eye-witness, would not have depended on other sources for his Gospel, it can also be argued that he didn't need to reinvent the wheel regarding the narrative of Jesus' life. It had been sufficiently written down, and Matthew verified it by accepting much of it. Rather, the information unique to Matthew's Gospel demonstrates that Matthew was indeed with Jesus – and with his pen in hand. (from Koininia House E-News, May 4, 2010).

Conclusion. Be careful to note what I am not saying. I am not saying that because we have confidence that we have something very close to the original transcripts of the Biblical writings, that this proves that the Bible is Divinely created. No, instead, my post today is instead my attempt to show that the Biblical Books were not corrupted through the years of copying. We can have assurance that the Bible we read today is something very close to what the original authors wrote. God bless you, and your walk with the Creator, through Jesus the Messiah our Lord. /s/Tom

10 Questions – Is Islam a Religion of Evil?

My friend Edward Oleander asked me to provide 10 Questions when years ago called Islam a "religion of evil" Ed has two Muslim friends who are willing to respond to my questions. Here is Ed's description of his challenge to me: "The 10 questions was a challenge I put to Tom after he called Islam a religion of evil back in 2008. It was also an expression of my frustration with Tom for accusing me of failing to explore Christianity deep enough, despite his complete lack of ever exploring any other religion himself.

I work with a few Muslims, including one man and one woman who agreed to each answer, in writing, a set of any 10 questions that Tom cared to pose. Both of them are, I believe, far closer to "real" Islam than the extremists we see on TV…"

The 10 Questions:

1).    My understanding of Islam is that it believes the Christian Bible is something that has been corrupted (I believe this is called Tahrif). Please tell me when exactly the Bible was corrupted and by whom. I ask you to keep in mind the example of the Dead Sea Scrolls (currently being shown at the Science Museum in St. Paul), which were buried and untouched for 2,000 years with no significant changes when compared to the traditional text.

2).    What is there in the Qur'an that leads you to believe that it is the prophetic, or truthful Word from Allah?

3).    Would you mind sharing with us a portion (do you also call these verses?) of a sura or two that are your favorite in the Qur'an?

4).    Do you agree that the primary way that Islam is spread after Muhammad's death in 632 AD is by the sword?

a).    Are there missionaries of Islam? If so, what do they tell those who are unbelievers?

5).    One writer states that polling data shows that 60% to 70% of Muslims worldwide are Salafi, meaning ancestor (what we Americans would call fundamentalist). The leaders in Islam that are Salafi include the Shia leaders in Iran, Pakistan and the Taliban. Is Salafi Islam the religion of Muhammad and the Qur'an?

a).    A recent poll found that one-third (1/3) of Muslim Americans believed that it is proper to use terrorism on behalf of the Islam faith. Do you agree with this? Why or why not?

b).    As France is about to pass legislation preventing the Muslim head and face covering, do you believe that the covering of Muslim women's face and head dehumanizes these women? And isn't the promise of 70 (or 72) virgins for Muslim martyrs, and Paradise being filled with sexual pleasures really a human / male concept?

c).    Why did Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (someone who does not believe the German holocaust actually took place and has shown his desire for the removal of Israel) receive 62% of the popular vote in the most recent election?

6).    Philosophically speaking, which is greater, a God who demonstrates his love by himself coming to Earth as a sacrifice for the world's sins (see, John 3:16; Philippians chapter 2) or one who refrains from becoming involved with humanity?

7).    My understanding of Islam is that at its foundation there are 5 Pillars: confession, daily prayer towards Mecca, almsgiving, and pilgrimage to Mecca; Is this correct?

a).    Is there any concept of Grace (mercy given though you don't deserve it) in Islam? For example, suppose a Muslim was able to go to Mecca, but didn't. How is this failure to meet one of the 5 Pillars (or any failure or sin) met by Allah? Is it always punished or is there room mercy?

8).    Is Allah holy? Is he perfect? If so, how can any of us who are not perfect ever be in Allah's presence in Paradise?

9).    Are people born basically good or bad? My understanding of Islam is that they believe people are born basically good. If this is right, how come it is so difficult to go any length of time without sinning. Can you go a week without sinning? How about a day? Why do we so naturally drift toward selfishness, and need to make a conscious effort to be good (or the flip side is why is it NOT a struggle for us to be bad)?

a).    If people are born basically good, then why is there so much pain and suffering in the world?

10). How do you define love? Where does love come from?

OK, I realize that if you count the sub-questions, I have gone over the 10 Question limit. I plead for your grace on this. J Thank you Ed for arranging this. And my thanks to those who are providing their responses. In Christ, /s/Tom Wolff

Easter Weekend 2010

Happy Easter weekend to y'all. Today is a special day of life here at the Wolff household – this morning one of our Siberian cats is giving birth to kittens. Three kittens are born so far. And mother cat and kittens are doing well. She chose an unusual birthing spot though. We just purchased a set of new Parade of Homes chair and couches which we put in our family room. One of the couches had a small tear in the bottom of it, and this cat crawled up into that rip, and gave birth to the first two kittens in the bottom of the couch while we were sleeping. Funny, funny, funny cats.

I am feeling especially blessed this Easter season. Work is going well. I have good health (see the March 13^th post on the healing of my MRSA that took place on March 7^th). And my family is doing well – and there is the hope of better health for my beautiful bride, who may have stomach by-pass surgery sometime in the next couple weeks. Peace and hope are good things to have, especially during the spring like weather that we have been having. And the Twins are playing at their new Target Field!

Which brings me to Easter. My thought this Easter weekend, is first to make sure that all know that Easter is a celebration of Jesus' Resurrection from His death by Crucifixion. On Pastor Tom Brock's local radio show this morning, he quoted a recent poll that shows that 42% of Americans do not know that Easter is about Jesus' Resurrection. It seems so obvious to me that Easter is about the celebration and remembrance of Jesus' Resurrection. And so, this is a disappointing statistic, showing the failure of the Church's mission in our country. So join with me to proclaim to others Jesus' Resurrection this Easter weekend.

Finally, my challenge to you to this Easter – will you join me in asking God what is there in our lives with which God is not happy. And then sit and listen. I once had a Pastor preach that if we want to hear from God, we should ask this question of God, and see if the opening scene of Star Wars appears. He said that if we are open to really hear of the sins in our lives, a long scroll, like the one used in Star Wars' opening scene, will just keep rolling for as long as we care to listen. I think this is a wonderful description reminding us of our sinfulness before a Holy God, and to also grow in our appreciation for the payment of these sins in the sacrifice by Jesus' death on the Cross. Thank You Jesus for redeeming me through your death, and providing me with new life, through Your Resurrection on Easter morning some 2,000 years ago.

Happy Easter everyone! Celebrate our Lord's Resurrection, He has defeated the grave!

Freedom in Christ

Who's your Master? My friend Edward Oleander has again asked me to explain the important differences between Biblical Christianity and other religions. Although I believe that I have previously provided a good explanation, it seems as though I should provide a different angle on these differences. And so, today's topic is Freedom in Jesus Christ for the elect.

I started by asking who is your Master. The Apostle Peter understood the deceitfulness of sinful desires in people when he wrote 2 Peter 2:9: "For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved." And so, if there is something that overwhelms us, makes us feel as though we are out-of-control, this sort of desire is described by the Apostle Peter as enslaving us. We are the slave. The sinful desire is the Master.

This is why Jesus in His teaching made clear that He came to set the captives free. Luke 4:18; See, John 8:31-36; Free from the penalty of sin (death); free from the chains that sin wraps us in; free from the law, and the desire to prove ourselves 'righteous' based upon our own actions; and free from the guilt that we need to do something 'more' in order to have God be pleased with us. Instead, once we have become born anew in Christ's sacrifice and resurrection, we are free; we no longer have to follow our sinful desires (although sometimes these desires have a nasty way of returning.) We are as Martin Luther described at the same time as being both a saint and a sinner.

Here are three verses that are helpful to me that speak of the freedom provided to the followers of Christ:

2 Corinthians 3:17 - Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

Galatians 5:1, :13 - For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery… For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another

Romans 6:22 - But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.

If you would like more to read about on the topic of the Freedom in Christ, Romans chapter 6 and the entire book of Galatians are excellent places to start.

Finally, the great benefit that this Freedom provides us is that we can enjoy all of God's creation. God has created this world for us to enjoy (Genesis 9:3; 1 Timothy 4:4; 1 Timothy 6:17). He has given us spouses so that we can enjoy the wonderful pleasure of physical love with another. He has given us all things, not as traps for the unwary, but as a blessing that points us to a loving Creator (1 Corinthians 8:6). Yet Jesus wants us to consider others in our use of this Freedom, so that we do not injure other Christian's consciences (1 Corinthians 8:12). Yet the rule stands - "All things are lawful for me," but not all things are helpful. "All things are lawful for me," but I will not be enslaved by anything. (1 Corinthians 6:12). The Christian is free to enjoy all of God's creation, with a thankful heart.

The examples of the use of this Freedom are shown in the Apostle Paul's writings. There were those in the early Church who thought that the Hebrew dietary laws (e.g., forbidding the eating of pork, etc.), yet both Peter and Paul showed we are Free in Christ from the dietary restriction; There were those who taught the Church should follow the Hebrew law of circumcision, yet we are also Free from this requirement; There were some in the early Church who worshipped on Saturdays (the Sabbath), and some on Sundays (the Lord's Day). Yet, Paul made clear that this was not important, because we are free in Christ (Colossians 2:16). What a terrifically clear teaching of Paul in 1 Corinthians 8:8, where he writes that if we follow one of these laws/rules, God does not love us any more nor any less. "We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do."

In conclusion, the Freedom that Christ provides His followers is something totally unique among religions. Other religions teach that we reach out to God through our actions – and their god in this life rewards good actions, and punishes sinful actions. Yet, the promise of the Bible is that out of thankfulness for God's Grace, and the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross, we grow in our desire to trust God, and to grow in our own personal holiness. And do not forget the importance of a Christian living their life guided by the Spirit of Christ. The "fruit" of a life guided by the Holy Spirit is one filled with love for others, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 6:22). And who doesn't want this kind of life, that is a result of being a follower of Jesus Christ? Free in Christ - /s/Tom

A Miracle of Healing

Praise God Who is a Living God, and Who cares about our troubles. Today's post is my testimony of a healing that has taken place, all glory to God:

I have been battling MRSA / drug-resistant staph for several years. It came back again this past February, with an infection on the back of my left calf. I had three lumps, one of which was opened up by a surgeon at my Clinic. The Clinic's physicians put me first on one anti-biotic to treat the infection, and then a second anti-biotic. The second anti-biotic helped a bit, but by the time the prescription ended a week ago Friday, my left leg was already swollen to one-third again the size of my right leg. Last weekend I was discouraged, and I felt crappy / nauseous, with an upset stomach. The swelling was increasing, and I know from my previous experience with MRSA, that once my leg swells and the lumps appear, that in short order the lumps will spread and grow in size quickly.

So I went last Sunday to our Church (Hosanna in Lakeville) and attended the Alpha course of which I am a table leader. I went to the Leader's prayer meeting beforehand, and the Alpha Facilitator asked if anyone had a bad week, and when no one else raised their hand, I raised my hand. Approximately eight other Alpha leaders came around me to pray for me. All I said when they asked what they could pray for me was "health". And they prayed for my health.

That night I felt fine, but I didn't think anything special happened. But something strange happened. I kept going to the bathroom. And going, and going. I had previously scheduled an appointment for this past Tuesday with an Infectious Disease Specialist to take a look at my MRSA, and get me on the right medicine to fight my leg infection. But by this appointment my lumps were gone. The swelling of my left leg was gone. And after examining my whole body, my doctor said that "there was no active infection" in my body. The MRSA was gone!

God healed me by answering the prayers of those friends, and family who prayed for me. He also answered the prayers of those Alpha leaders who prayed for me this past Sunday. I love seeing God's miraculous answer to prayer, and I want to sing His praises for what He has done to help me. Thank You Lord for healing me through the answer of prayer. In Christ's name I give this testimony, Amen.

MRSA (and Something Worse)

MRSA (or drug resistant staph), is a difficult to treat infection. But as difficult as MRSA is, I came across this article in the New York Times that describes something even worse:

1).    Gram-negative Bacteria Far Worse than MRSA. (article here). A very interesting article, I recommend it highly to everyone. Here is a portion:

… Acinetobacter baumannii, or the Gram-negative germ is one of a category of bacteria that by some estimates are already killing tens of thousands of hospital patients each year. While the organisms do not receive as much attention as the one known as MRSA — for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus — some infectious-disease specialists say they could emerge as a bigger threat.

That is because there are several drugs, including some approved in the last few years, that can treat MRSA. But for a combination of business reasons and scientific challenges, the pharmaceuticals industry is pursuing very few drugs for Acinetobacter and other organisms of its type, known as Gram-negative bacteria. Meanwhile, the germs are evolving and becoming ever more immune to existing antibiotics…

"In many respects it's far worse than MRSA," said Dr. Louis B. Rice, an infectious-disease specialist at the Louis Stokes Cleveland V.A. Medical Center and at Case Western Reserve University. "There are strains out there, and they are becoming more and more common, that are resistant to virtually every antibiotic we have."

    Tom: This is scary stuff. And the NY Times' charge that the pharmaceutical industry is not pursuing treatments for Gram-negative's treatment looks to be a failure of the system.

2).    New Book – SuperBug, the Fatal Menace of MRSA. Author Mary McKenna has written a new book that will be published later this month. Here is a portion from the book, (which can be found here):

LURKING in our homes, hospitals, schools, and farms is a terrifying pathogen that is evolving faster than the medical community can track it or drug developers can create antibiotics to quell it. That pathogen is MRSA—methicillin-resistant Staphyloccocus aureus—and Superbug is the first book to tell the story of its shocking spread and the alarming danger it poses to us all.Doctors long thought that MRSA was confined to hospitals and clinics, infecting almost exclusively those who were either already ill or old. But through remarkable reporting, including hundreds of interviews with the leading researchers and doctors tracking the deadly bacterium, acclaimed science journalist Maryn McKenna reveals the hidden history of MRSA's relentless advance—how it has overwhelmed hospitals, assaulted families, and infiltrated agriculture and livestock, moving inexorably into the food chain. Taking readers into the medical centers where frustrated physicians must discard drug after drug as they struggle to keep patients alive, she discloses an explosion of cases that demonstrate how MRSA is growing more virulent, while evolving resistance to antibiotics with astonishing speed. It may infect us at any time, no matter how healthy we are; it is carried by a stunning number of our household pets; and it has been detected in food animals from cows to chickens to pigs.

Ms. McKenna called me up last year to interview me, as someone who has had several bouts of MRSA, for her book (nothing I said is being used), and so she was gracious enough to let me know about the release of her upcoming book. It looks like it is going to receive some major national attention.