The Law

Here is a post I recently did in my online Bible course, Koinonia Institute. I have been extremely convicted about the method I use to witness to people by a book I just started reading entitled "The School of Biblical Evangelism" by Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron. I wish I could expound on this more now, but I am limited at this time. I may, however, get into more detail on this topic in subsequent posts. Without further ado:


The Law

This is something the Lord has heavily laid on my heart recently. I have been reading a book entitled, "The School of Biblical Evangelism", which teaches believers how to share the gospel effectively. The Law is our tool to lead people to repentance. Romans 7:7-13 says,
"What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead. I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died.  And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death.  For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me.  Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good. Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful."

The Law serves an essential role in sharing the gospel with people. Without the bad news, sinners will not be able to understand or appreciate the good news. Without knowing that they have broken God's law and are destined for hell, they will not realize their need for deliverance. Therefore, in sharing the gospel, we must first share the need, and then the provision. In witnessing we must start from the beginning, as Christ did in Luke 24:27, "And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself." 

For example, ask the average person if they are a "good person", and their response will be "yes". If they are truly good, why would they need a Savior? But if you show them that they are actually despicably wicked and hopeless because they have broken God's Law, then they will grasp their need for deliverance from judgment. I am so thankful that the Lord has been instructing me in this, because I never realized the powerful tool I had in the Law before!




In addition, here is a video of Ray Comfort talking about the importance of the Law and then applying this in witnessing to the audience. I am having trouble embedding the video, so please click HERE to view.

Existentialism

Have you ever heard the terms, "the leap of faith", or "all roads lead to heaven"? Both of these stem from the philosophy of a man named Soren Kierkegaard. I wrote a paper on this philosopher last year for a class I was taking, and I thought I would share it with you. Much of the cultural worldview in America today was heavily influenced by Kierkegaard, so I feel there is relevance in understanding his ideas in a little more detail. I know it is quite long, but I hope you learn from it and enjoy it!

Søren Kierkegaard

    Born in 1813, Søren Kierkegaard is considered the father of modern existentialism. Existentialism is defined in Merriam-Webster Dictionary as follows:

        Analysis of individual existence in an unfathomable universe and the plight of the individual  who must assume ultimate responsibility for acts of free will without any certain knowledge   of what is right or wrong or good or bad.

While the term did not exist in Kierkegaard’s time, the ideas related to existentialism were in large part pioneered by him. In addition, Kierkegaard was an expressly Christian philosopher. He sought answers regarding the relationship of faith and religion, and ultimately led to the common modern separation between faith and reason. Søren Kierkegaard had many correct insights into the Christian life, but one little error led him, and our culture after him, into miry clay.

     During Kierkegaard’s day, the culture had been widely influenced by Immanuel Kant and G.W.F. Hegel. Kant, in his epistemology, defended the principle of a priori knowledge, including the moral law and ethical standards. Thus, he established the idea that moral principles are universal, necessary, and rational. Kant penned the term, “The Categorical Imperative”, which is basically a version of the Golden Rule: The way you should act is the way you want everyone to act. However, Kant did not anchor ethics or morality on any divine standard, but rather simply assumed that they exist a priori without cause. Therefore, ethics became its own end, divorced from God. G.W.F. Hegel reinforced Kant’s system, and ultimately left a morality unmoored from any divine foundation.

     Thus, during Kierkegaard’s day, many “Christians” lived according to ethical principles without any kind of passion or commitment to the God who is the standard of ethics. This left Kierkegaard with a bad taste in his mouth regarding the effects of Kantian Ethics on society. He said, “God comes to be an invisible vanishing point, and impotent thought; his power is only in the ethical, which fills all of existence.” What Kierkegaard experienced was a lack of true, passionate faith amongst Christians; instead, they simply practiced ethics as the chief end of religion. This viewpoint pushed Kierkegaard to develop the concept of the three stages of religious life. The first stage, the aesthetic stage, consists of a selfish pursuit of pleasure and a focus on temporal existence alone. This stage leads to despair, because it does not accomplish the purpose for which God created man. Such despair leads man to move to the second stage, the ethical stage. In this stage, man submits to the universal ethical principles, becoming a “good person”. Finally, when man realizes that the ethical cannot be its own end, he makes a specific decision to move to the religious stage. This stage, characterized by a true relationship with God and a passionate commitment to him, is reached through an irrational “leap of faith”. As a model for this type of blind faith, Kierkegaard turns to Abraham. Specifically, he focuses on the instance of God’s command for Abraham to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. The Scripture reads, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love – Isaac – and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.” Abraham obeys God, and whilst he begins to plunge the knife at Isaac, God provides a ram in the thicket instead. Throughout Scripture, Abraham is elevated as an exemplar of faith. Kierkegaard then summarizes that Abraham obeyed God out of an irrational, zealous faith. For, to all other men, he would have seemed insane and unethical. In man’s eyes, no universal moral rule can justify Abraham’s actions. However, according to Kierkegaard, true faith is characterized by a radical, desperate, and irrational obedience to God.  By definition, it is subjective, and for each individual the commands differ. Thus, as Kierkegaard himself stated, “Truth is subjectivity.” True religion and faith is characterized by complete abandon of rationality in subjection to God. In fact, Kierkegaard used an example of two men praying. One prays to the Christian God without zeal or passion, and in truth he serves idols. On the other hand, the second man prays to idols with passion, zeal, and complete commitment, and he worships God. Kierkegaard’s continually focused upon the irrational faith of true religion, as opposed to the cultural norm of lackluster service to ethical principles.

      First, let us look at what Kierkegaard got right. The concern he experienced over the works-based faith of his era resounds with many Christians throughout history, including Martin Luther. The need for a saving, life changing faith is certainly Scriptural. Indeed, a radical commitment to God, despite the ridicule from outsiders, is also Biblical. The stages are very insightful, and in some ways adequate for explaining the Christian conversion. Some people simply don’t care about ethics, some are “good” people, and then there are faithful Christians. Finally, Abraham as an example of faith is certainly not out of the ordinary or unbiblical. In fact, many of Scriptures authors, most notably Paul, used Abraham as a supreme example of faith. Thus, many things, especially in the beginning of his quest, Kierkegaard scored a goal on.

      On the other hand, it seems as though when Kierkegaard finally got to the point of concluding the matter, he went off the deep end of sound reasoning. While Abraham was used repeatedly in Scripture as a model of faith, he was never referred to as having irrational faith, but rather a very rational faith. The command to offer Isaac was not the first experience Abraham had with God. Rather, Abraham’s relationship with God was long and tested. God had promised Abraham a son who would produce many offspring. At that time, Isaac had no offspring, and thus Abraham trusted God to carry through with his promise in some way. Hebrews 11:17-19 says:

            By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,” concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead…

Thus, Abraham had a rational faith in a God whom he had previously known to follow through with His promises. In addition, what Abraham did was not subjective or “unethical” according to societal norms. God, the giver of life, is the only One who can also take human life. Thus, for God to require the life of Isaac did not violate ethical standards. God, the standard bearer, can take the life of his creation as He sees fit. Thus, in reality, Kierkegaard had a faulty and partial view of Abraham’s faith, and falsely concluded that Abraham had an irrational, subjective faith. He swung the pendulum too far in the opposite direction of works-based religion to a religion that entirely excluded reason. Furthermore, he denied the fundamental principle, if not in practice in theory, of Christ as the only way to the Father. Instead, he favored the view that all roads lead to heaven as long as you follow them with passion and zeal.

      For his many insights, Kierkegaard had an equal number of detrimental faults which still influence of culture today. One of the most obvious results of his viewpoints is modern relativism. Since all roads lead to heaven if followed with passion, why should you judge someone else’s religion? Although this may not seem as radical as all relativism, it prevails in today’s world, even among many Christians. Ultimately, this leads to disobeying the fundamental command Christ gave, which is the Great Commission. Furthermore, it becomes a short distance to the full-fledged relativism of our day. Finally, Kierkegaard influenced modern culture, especially the church, regarding faith and reason. Because he created such a gap between faith and reason, the former being all-in-all and the latter unnecessary, Christians now remove themselves from any area of society which calls for reason and logic. One common example of this is science – Christians believe that science belongs in the realm of the world, while they should simply focus on faith. While most would not readily recognize the name of Søren Kierkegaard, they have many of the thought patterns which he introduced ingrained in their minds. Thus, as it turns out, one little misstep from Biblical truth leads inevitably to false doctrines and ultimately heresy.