Bible Study: Deciphering The Parable Of The Ten Minas

In a previous article, I went through the parable of the workers in the vineyard. I explained how it relates to justification by grace alone through faith alone apart from works. One of the most common questions tha rises after this parable, which really doesn't need much deciphering, is that why should we work then? Or why should we obey God? The answer is quite simple to be honest. The short answer is that because working is good and obeying God is also a good thing, because God only wants what's best for us and everyone else. That's why He deserves all the glory! Because He is the best and wants the best for everyone! Another reason is that God blesses and rewards us based on our works, both in this life and in the afterlife. The gift of eternal life is only one of the many gifts God has in store for human beings. There is so much more to life than simply escaping death and getting to live forever!

In the parable of the ten minas in the gospel of Luke, we read about a man of noble birth who goes to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return. So he calls ten of his servants and gives them ten minas and tells them to put this money to work until he comes back. But his subjects hate him and send a delegation after him to say, ‘We don’t want this man to be our king.’ He is made king, however, and returns home. Then he sends for the servants to whom he had given the money, in order to find out what they have gained with it. Two of the servants who have put the master's money to work and have earned ten and five more minas respectively are rewarded by the master.

Then we see something very interesting happen here, which is often ignored by most readers; it's the way the master treats the rest of his servants. We see the master get angry at the third servant who has not worked with the money and as a result has not earned anything. The master tells him off that he should have at least put the money on deposit, so that when the master returned, he could now collect it with interest! Then the master orders that even the one mina that this servant has should be taken away from him and should be given to the one who has ten minas. Catching the other servants by surprise, he tells them that whoever has earned something, more will be given to them and to those who have earned nothing, even what they have will be taken away from them. He goes on and says, "But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them—bring them here and kill them in front of me!"

What most readers miss here and assume that this parable proves that eternal life is not by grace alone through faith alone, is that the servant who has not worked with the master's money at all, is not put to death! It is clear that the death sentence in this passage refers to the second death or the destruction of both body and soul, as Jesus warned the unbelievers in Matthew 10:28. So as we can see, even in this parable, eternal life is purely by grace alone, through faith alone. However, this parable is also clear that works play a crucial role in heavenly rewards. No wonder why Jesus told his followers not to store up for themselves treasures on earth where moths and vermin destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but instead he encouraged them to store up for themselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. That's in Matthew 6:19-20.

Critics of this theology and interpretation of this parable refer to Matthew 25:14-30, specifically verse 30. They claim that this is the same parable that is being told by Matthew, and then they fixate on verse 30 which says, "And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." They argue that the phrase "weeping and gnashing of teeth" is something that Matthew uses to refer to the second death. But a careful examination of the book of Matthew shows that this is just an eisegesis or reading something into the passage. The phrase "weeping and gnashing of teeth" is used six times in the book of Matthew. In Matthew 13:42 for example, it comes right after "being thrown into the blazing furnace" whereas in Matthew 25:30, it comes after "being thrown into the darkness."

Therefore, it is not exactly the same phrase and we need more proof-text to conclude whether or not this phrase alone refers to the second death. The proof-text from the parable of the ten minas in Luke 19:11-27 that I just went through above, provides enough evidence for us to conclude that the phrase "weeping and gnashing of teeth" does not refer to the second death alone, but also to miss out on heavenly rewards and the privilege to reign with Christ or to be glorified with Christ. To recap, while the two parables appear to be the same, it's clear that the one in Luke 19:11-27 contains more details and distinguishes between the treatments of those who did not want the master to be king over them vs. those who did not work with the master's money.

In 1 Corinthians 3:11-15, we read about a similar judgement from apostle Paul. He says, "For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames." As we can see here, those whose works are judged to be unworthy will suffer loss, but yet they will be saved. I believe that another passage that supports this interpretation of this parable is 2 Timothy 2:11-12. In these verses we see a clear distinction between living with Christ as opposed to reigning with Christ. One requires faith alone, while the other requires faith plus endurance/works. It ends by telling us that if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot disown Himself.

Can We Please Everybody?

I can't tell you what a relief it was when I finally came to realize, perhaps the most important truth about reality, which is my inability to please everybody. It's a very simple truth; yet all of us struggle with not only fully embracing it, but also with applying it to our everyday life. Have a look around yourself. There are so many people who are frustrated because they are trying to do the impossible. They want to please everybody which is literally next to impossible. Are you one of those people? Are you trying to please everybody? Then you should listen to what I have to say!

Ask yourself a simple question. Do you really like to spend time with fake people? Or would you rather spend time with genuine and original people? You know... people who are honest with who they are and what they want or seek. Not people who only tell you what you want to hear so they can take something off of you. Let's try a practical example. Have you ever gone shopping and tried an expensive set of clothes on, and had the shopping guy tell you how fantastic they look on you, yet you knew that they looked awful on you?

I have and I'm not surprised. Because the poor bloke was just trying to market, sell and earn money. Didn't really care about me but was pretending like he did. Even though I was nice to him, but his opinion didn't really matter. It's the same thing in life. If you're a phony, sooner or later, people will realize that and even if they're nice to you in your face, they won't really care about you or be nice to you behind your back.

What's trying to please everybody has to do with being a fake, you might ask. Well, the truth is that if you're trying to please everybody, then you're a fake! Because it doesn't take a genius to figure out the logical impossibility of pleasing everybody! But it's not just about figuring this truth out. That's the easy part! The hard part is applying it to your everyday life. Alexander Hamilton, British writer and broadcaster once said, "If you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything."

In the gospel of John we read that Jesus asks a rhetorical question from those who do not believe in his claims. To be specific, it's John 5:44 where Jesus says: "How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?" In other words, how can you believe the truth, if you're a phony? Jesus claimed to be the truth. In John 14:6, we read that "Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

Bible Study: Deciphering The Parable of The Workers in The Vineyard

Jesus uses the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard, also known as the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard or the Parable of the Generous Employer, which can be found in the book of Matthew, to simply imply that any laborer who accepts the invitation to the work in the vineyard (representing the Kingdom of God), no matter how late in the day, will receive an equal reward with those who have been working the longest.

This parable is too clear and almost not up for debate. But in this article, I'm going to decipher it anyway, and prepare my readers for the connection between this parable and the narrow gate in Matthew 7:13 as well as its connection with the Parable of the Ten Minas in Luke 19:11-27.

"For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard. About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’ ‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered. He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’" —Matthew 20:1-7

It is quite obvious that the landowner who represents God in this parable, is literally hiring anyone who wants to be hired. This resonates very well with Romans 2:11 where Paul states that God does not show favoritism. What does that exactly mean? The answer is in the same context, in Romans 2:9-10.

Apostle Paul says that there will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew(metaphor for a true believer), then for the Gentile(metaphor for an unbeliever). but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew(metaphor for a true believer), then for the Gentile(metaphor for an unbeliever).

"When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’ The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’" —Matthew 20:8-16

A denarius which is declared to be the wages of the workers in this parable obviously represents the gift of God or eternal life. How do we know that? Because it is given equally to all workers regardless of their works or performance, but only and only upon their willingness to work or their acceptance of the offer.

This obviously resonates very well with what Paul says in Ephesians 2:8-9. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.

"But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ So the last will be first, and the first will be last." —Matthew 20:13-16

The answer of the landowner is quite fascinating to me and resonates very well with Romans 9:20 in conjunction with Romans 11:35. In other words, who has ever given to God, that God should repay them?

And who is in a position to question what God decides to do or not to do? And the answer is imply no one! As Paul says in Romans 11:36, For from Him and through Him and for Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen.

As we can see, many who are last, will be first which very clearly means that just because the majority of people do not find the narrow gate for most of their lives, it does not mean that they will never find it. I personally believe that the majority of people will eventually find the narrow gate, but most of them will find it in the very last days of their lives.

I know that this triggers a lot of those who claim to be Christian, some of whom may not even be saved yet in my opinion; only God knows. The cause of their trigger is of course the same as the landowner's generosity towards his hired workers, in the parable that we just read. But these triggers will never change God's generosity, mercies, decisions and plans!

Many are quick to say that if this is the case, why should I work for God now? I will wait until my deathbed and then will say a quick prayer and will make it to heaven! But that would be a huge strawman of what the Bible actually teaches.

First of all, you do not know when you're going to die. You could die instantly without getting a chance to say the little prayer that is apparently going to save you.

Second of all, God knows the heart and will not answer prayers that are not genuinely from the heart. You may want to consider Proverbs 1:22-33 in this case. I have actually written a separate article about this point which can be found HERE.

And last but not least, working for God and/or in God's Kingdom is a beautiful privilege that comes with lots of blessings and rewards, both in this life and the afterlife! In my next article, I am going to explain more about these blessings and rewards by deciphering the Parable of the Ten Minas in Luke 19:11-27.

Do Miracles Still Happen?

If God/Jesus appeared to some Christians today and wanted to bless them or heal them, they would be like NO! This can't be God/Jesus! It must be Satan! God/Jesus wants us to suffer! This is a tragedy that is unfortunately very present among so many Christians today. The false theology behind this tragedy is known as "cessation-ism" which teaches that the gifts of the Holy Spirit such as healing the sick have stopped!

How convenient, isn't it? If we can't heal the sick like Jesus and his first disciples did, why blame it on our lack of faith, or our lack of understanding of the scriptures, or our sins? Let's blame it on God! Isn't that the ultimate road every unbeliever takes? Blame it on God! We prayed and it didn't work. THEREFORE, these gifts must have stopped! Is that really how it works? What did Jesus say?

Let's visit the gospel of Mark, chapter nine. Here we see a man from the crowd coming to Jesus and saying, "Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not." What is Christ's response to the man? The gifts must have stopped? The gifts aren't for everyone? Not what the Scripture says! In verse 19, we read: "You unbelieving generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me." —Mark 19:9

Have you ever been to a Charismatic or Pentecostal church where they repudiate the doctrine of cessation-ism and don't shy away from praying and believing for miracles? I have, and I was desperate for a miracle. Words can't explain how desperate I was to be healed. The first church I went to was a meeting held by a pretty famous healing evangelist known as John Mellor.

I saw some people get healed but some didn't. Some fainted and fell on the floor. I could feel the presence of God. I could feel the abundance of strength, joy and peace that was present in that atmosphere, especially during the worship hour. But I wasn't healed and you know what? I could feel this extreme anger within me that wanted me to blaspheme the Holy Spirit and completely turn away from God and go somewhere quiet and commit suicide.

What am I trying to say here? If this stuff wasn't real, why did I feel so angry towards God, because I wasn't healed? To cut the long story short, it took me a while to completely understand how God's grace works. It is not by works, so that no one can boast. It is extremely sad that so many Christians don't completely understand this. They are still trying to earn what cannot be earned.

I wasn't healed instantly or should I say miraculously, but I did slowly improve especially after I came to realize what God's grace really is and how it works. It was only then that I could feel in my spirit that I can overcome the world per se. More importantly, I learned that what makes the biggest impression is not what we do in the good times; that’s easy—but rather how we respond in the tough times!

So, does God want us to suffer or prosper? Perhaps the answer to this question is not as black and white as many would like to think it is. If I had to choose one, I would definitely choose "prosper." YES! God wants us to prosper. In Jeremiah 29:11, God says, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

The question that rises then is why is there suffering in the world? The answer is that suffering exists because of disobedience. Not necessarily our own sins, so I'm not saying that there is perfect justice in this world. But what I am saying is that because of our sins, there is pain and suffering in this world. Sometimes or should I say most of the times, it is our own fault whereas other times it is someone else's fault.

The suffering that we're called to endure under preaching the Gospel is the persecution that comes from standing on the Word of God. It is not sickness or poverty. You cannot be a blessing to others and work in the Kingdom of God, if you're so sick that you can't even get out of bed, or if you're so poor that you can't even survive! To conflate prosperity with suffering in this manner is a huge mistake that will only lead to the death of the church.

Now back to the main question. Does Jesus still heal the sick today? I'm going to say absolutely yes. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. He hasn't changed and He will never change. Why is it then that some people aren't healed? I do not understand all of the reasons behind it but some reasons are very clearly laid out in the scriptures.

There can be certain spiritual blocks in our lives that can prevent us from being healed. These spiritual blocks hinder us from fully walking in the Spirit and as a result receiving the gifts and blessings of God in this very life. Some of these spiritual blocks can be unforgiveness, ignorance, willful disobedience, lack of faith or unbelief, not being honest or transparent, letting fear into your heart, bitterness, anger, resentment, pursuing signs, etc. To find out more from John Mellor's perspective, click here.

Bible Study: Deciphering The Book of Job

The Book of Job is a book in the Ketuvim ("Writings") section of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh), and the first poetic book in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. Addressing the problem of theodicy – the vindication of the justice of God in the light of humanity's suffering, or more simply, "Why do the righteous suffer?" It is a rich theological work setting out a variety of perspectives. It has been widely and often extravagantly praised for its literary qualities, with Alfred, Lord Tennyson calling it "the greatest poem of ancient and modern times." In this article, I'm going to share with you my interpretation of this book, without worrying about whether the events in the book have actually occurred, or whether it's only a piece of literature. I'm going to give a very quick overview of this book before I represent my interpretation of it. If you have never read this book or don't have the time to read it, you can instead have a look at the amazing video that I have attached to the bottom of this article, which is basically an animated summary of the book compiled by a great Christian ministry known as The Bible Project. Make sure you check their website out!

In this book, we see that God allows Satan to directly attack Job, who is called a righteous servant of God, in order to test Job's faithfulness. Even though Job remains faithful at first, once he breaks his silence and starts talking, it seems as if he was hiding a lot of things inside his chest that he's now letting out. There is a big conversation back and forth between Job and his friends with regards to the problem of evil and suffering which seems to be going nowhere. It is as if Job is on an emotional roller coaster. At some moments he's confident that God is wise and just, yet at other moments he's doubting God's goodness. He even comes to accuse God of being reckless, unfair and corrupt! By the end of the dialogue, Job demands an explanation from God. Now God's answer to Job is not a direct answer but rather a very indirect one similar to how the presuppositional apologetics work! It simply narrows down to God questioning Job back, and showing him that he is not in a position to judge God, but rather it is God who is the Judge of the world. God shows Job how limited he is in his knowledge of the world and how things operate and asks him to answer a few questions if he really thinks he is in a position to judge God! This of course leaves Job in a position of humility which leads him to acknowledge that he has indeed spoken of things he did not understand and things too wonderful for him to know. In the end Job says to God, "You said, 'Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.' My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes." —Job 42:4-6

In Job 1:1 we read that Job was blameless and upright and it's not just the author of the book that calls Job blameless and upright, but even God himself confirms this in Job 1:8. Given the broader context of the Bible, we know that no one is good but God alone. Mark 10:18. We also know that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23. In the broader context of Romans 3, we read about two ways of attaining righteousness. One that comes by the Law through our works while the other one is by Grace through our faith in God who justifies the ungodly. Romans 4:5. Furthermore, we also know that no one has been able to attain righteousness by the Law through their works, except Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Now having this information in mind, we can look at the book of Job from an amazing perspective through which Job was in fact trying to attain righteousness by the Law through his works, and he had been doing pretty well as far as we can tell, until he went through this trial. I don't think that the fact that Job did not pass this trial is open to interpretation. During his emotional roller coaster, he doubts God's goodness, curses the day he was born which is a sin known as ingratitude, and levels some pretty harsh accusations against God near the end! Job ends up despising himself and repenting in the end, which is further proof-text that he did not handle the situation the way he should have and so Job fails the trial!

Having said that, let me clarify that asking questions from God is not a bad thing. In fact, I believe that God would be more than happy to give us the answers that we need if we sit down and have a genuine conversation with Him, and ask genuine questions. Jesus Himself said, "Ask and it shall be given to you; seek and you shall find! Knock and the door shall open for you!" Matthew 7:7. But if our questions are not from faith, and presuppose that there is a higher standard above God, or that we are in a position to judge God, then they are not considered genuine questions anymore. These type of questions are logically fallacious and problematic, and they ultimately lead to idolatry. Genuine questions stem from genuine faith/trust in God, while keeping in mind that without God, the very concept of truth falls apart and our questions become meaningless. I have written an article about the kind of faith that God requires from us and in that article, I tend to expand on this issue. If you want to know more about my position, feel free to read this article.

To top it all off, what is the message that we can get from this book? I tend to think that the message that God wants us to get from this book is that trying to attain righteousness by the Law through our works is going to fail! We cannot earn our salvation, because the price is too heavy! The question should be what would we do if we were Job? Do you think you would have passed the trial? I can't speak for everyone, but I do mention very shortly in the first article that I wrote about my background and testimony that I did experience something similar and I too lost the trial, just like Job did. But it only made me realize what this book is actually about and as I promised in my first article, I am now writing a commentary on the book, hoping that this commentary would help others decipher this book so that they don't have to go through what I or Job have, in order to understand that the price for their salvation is too heavy, so much so that trying to earn it is bound to fail! But God who is rich in mercy has provided a way for everyone, and He is offering eternal salvation as a gift which is what the good news about Jesus or the Gospel is all about and all we have to do is receive it; all we have to do is to simply say yes to God, and trust in God and His promises with all of our heart, mind and soul! As Paul puts it in Ephesians 2:8-9, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast."

Bible Study: Faith vs. Works

I think we're all familiar with the infamous faith vs. works debate. It's one of the most important topics in Christianity because it questions our salvation. What is my stance on this issue? If I wanted to quote one verse from the Bible that would best summarize my stance, it would be Romans 3:28 where Paul says, "For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the Law." Opponents to my view are quick to quote James 2:17 and say to me: "But James says that faith without works is dead!" I always find this reaction to be amusing, because they seem to suggest that James contradicts Paul! But of course, we can't have contradictions in the scriptures, right? So there must be an explanation for what seems to be a contradiction. Let's dive into the book of James and see what the possible explanations are.

Perhaps the most favorite explanation for James 2:17 is that James is talking about justification before man in this context, rather than justification before God. If we consider the broader context of this chapter, we see that in James 2:10, an indirect statement shows that the only way to be justified by works before God is if one holds the whole Law. Therefore, it's clear that James is on the same page with Paul, that all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God. Furthermore, the possibility of James talking about justification before man, rather than justification before God, seems to become more evident in verse 18. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. This is obviously how humans operate. They can't see your faith because faith can't be seen. We as humans can only judge someone by their deeds whereas God can judge them by faith because unlike us, God can see their hearts and read their minds. This explanation makes perfect sense when we consider what Paul says in Romans 4:2 about Abraham not having anything to boast before God.

The other popular explanation is that James is talking about a genuine faith which produces good deeds vs. a bogus one which is dead. James tells us in verse 19 that even demons believe that there is one God and shudder. I have written an article in which I try to explain what kind of faith God requires from us in order to save us. In my article, I explain the different definitions and applications of the word "faith" that are in our Bible. One of them is in fact in James 2 and it's "belief that" rather than "belief in". I explain how "belief that" is a matter of knowledge, whereas "belief in" is a matter of trust. The kind of faith that God requires from us is a matter of trust; as Romans 4:5 says, the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness. This explanation seems to make a better sense of what James is telling us.

Having said that, I would be very careful not to let this explanation lead to a backward works-based salvation in which the believer will derive his/her assurance of salvation from his/her works. That should not happen because we will never be good enough and we will always fall short, and deriving our assurance from our works is definitely another gospel. It might be noteworthy that James in chapter two is talking about specific works that were only asked from Abraham and Rahab, whereas Paul is talking about the works of the Law. As a result, a third explanation might be that God tests everyone's faith differently in order to find out whether they truly trust Him or not, the same way He tested Abraham and Rahab. One might ask, doesn't God know our hearts and can't He read our minds? Then why would He need to test our faith? Maybe the common theistic understanding of omniscience is logically fallacious and therefore wrong, or maybe He tests us in order to justify us before men, and show them the difference between a genuine faith and a bogus one!

To recap, the Gospel is very clear that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone apart from works of the Law. Paul tells us in Philippians 3:3 that it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by His Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh. Then Paul explains how he has reasons for putting confidence in the flesh. In verse 4, he says that if someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, he has more! He then gives his reasons but claims that whatever were gains to him, he now considers loss for the sake of Christ. Continuing from verse 8, he says that, "What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ; the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith." Galatians is another very interesting book which cuts to the very core of this issue and weeds out a lot of false teachings surrounding this important issue.

Human Psychology and Cognitive Dissonance

As someone who was raised Muslim, and has embraced the Christian faith, contrary to what I would have ever imagined before coming to Christ, as well as someone who believes that many conspiracy theories are not just theories but rather real conspiracies, I have grown to learn a lot about human psychology and cognitive dissonance. I have to say that it has been an amazing journey so far, and I wouldn't want to exchange my past for anything, because it has made me who I am today; whether we're talking about the mistakes that I have made or the things that were out of my hands, such as when or where I was born. I plan to share from my own experience and explain how learning about human psychology and cognitive dissonance can help us in discerning the truth.

In psychology, cognitive dissonance is the mental stress or discomfort experienced by a person who simultaneously holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values; when performing an action that contradicts existing beliefs, ideas, or values; or when confronted with new information that contradicts existing beliefs, ideas, and values. Generally speaking, those who are familiar with human psychology and cognitive dissonance are a lot more likely to scrutinize their beliefs, ideas, and values by overcoming this mental stress or discomfort and make sure that they are not contradictory. However, simply knowing about human psychology and cognitive dissonance isn't going to guarantee such scrutiny. Unfortunately, we as human beings are very emotional and selfish at the end of the day, and it's almost impossible to detach ourselves from ourselves and our emotions and selflessly seek the truth. Notice that I said it's almost impossible because it's not absolutely impossible otherwise no one would be able to selflessly seek the truth. Looking at my own experience, I personally would have never selflessly sought the truth if I had not faced certain desperate circumstances in my life which led me to give up my emotional and selfish desires for a moment and genuinely and selflessly seek the truth. I can only conclude from my own experience that circumstances of life can indeed lead some of us to ultimately overcome our cognitive dissonance, but that can't be said about everyone. Some people are different and are able to ultimately overcome their cognitive dissonance without going through the desperate circumstances of life but I reckon they must be in the minority!

Having said that, generally speaking from my own experience, it is a very good practice to teach people about human psychology and cognitive dissonance before arguing about what you disagree with. Preparing their mind and psychology to hear what you have to say can play a significant role in their ability to hear you rather than completely brushing you off or shutting down. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight." To many people this passage sounds like surrendering your rationality and blindly accepting what the Bible says, but that is not what this passage is demanding. God is our Creator, and He knows how our psychology works. He knows that when we get emotional, the logical part of our brain shuts down. The only one who is able to reason perfectly is our Creator because He is perfect and won't allow His emotions to dictate His logic. Given that line of reasoning, what would be more rational for us to do? To put our faith in ourselves or in God? It doesn't take a genius to figure out that the latter is more rational. I myself could only see the truth when I finally gave up on my own strength and decided to completely rely on my Creator to guide my steps and the Creator led me to the Bible. It has been an amazing journey so far and I'm absolutely loving it. Have I found all the answers? Absolutely not. Do I now know everything? Absolutely not. I'm still learning and growing. In fact, expecting to learn everything in our lifetime or expecting to comprehend everything about our Creator and His Creation with our small brain is impossible. But the good news is that we don't have to know everything in order to know what we need to know before we meet God face to face!

It is very important for us to understand that we have an adversary who despises us and is willing to do anything to drag us down with himself. This is not a fiction. This is reality. And if you're skeptic about this reality, you should at least entertain the possibility of it and see if you have any solutions for it, should it be true. Based on my own experience, our adversary loves emotional appeals and emotional arguments because they work! Everyone has a different paradigm and based on their paradigm, different emotional appeals are going to work on them. Once the emotional appeal works on someone, the logical part of their brain shuts down and they will believe everything the adversary tells them. The problem of evil is perhaps one of the most favorite emotional appeals that is used by our adversary. You've probably heard about this emotional appeal as well. It goes something like this: "If God is all-powerful and all-loving, why is there so much suffering and evil in the world?" The conclusion that follows from this emotional appeal will be that God probably doesn't exist or if He does, He doesn't care about us. This emotional appeal is the number one driver behind atheism and naturalism. There is a video at which Dr. William Lane Craig provides an answer for this so-called problem. But even he acknowledges that this answer does not solve the emotional aspect of this problem but rather only the intellectual aspect of it. After all, most people don't want a God who allows evil and suffering. Another emotional appeal that the adversary uses on people is an attack on Christ's identity and divinity. It goes something like this: "If you believe Jesus is God, then you're worshiping a man but God is not a man. If you believe Jesus is the Son of God, you're associating a partner with God and that's blasphemy. Far be it from God to have a son! God is not like us to have kids." The favorite conclusion that follows from this emotional appeal will be that the Bible is corrupted and that Islam is the truth. This emotional appeal works on a lot of people and is the main driver behind Islam which is nothing more than a fraud and not that difficult to intellectually refute it, yet billions of people believe it and are willing to die for it.

So what is the solution? How can we escape an emotional shut-down? It takes practice but I honestly don't think it's possible to completely avoid all the tactics of our adversary without completely relying on God. At the end of the day, we've only been around for a few decades while our adversary has been around for centuries! There are people on the other side of the spectrum who don't seem to let their emotions dictate their logic on the outside, but since their zeal for God is not based on knowledge, they end up doing horrible things in the name of God. Jesus Christ prophecies in the Gospel about such people. In John 16:2, Jesus says, "In fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God." With everything that's going on in the world today, we don't have to go all the way back to the first century to read about the intense persecution that Christians have gone through. To recap, our emotions in and of themselves are not bad. In fact, our emotions are a very beautiful part of the Creation. It's only when we allow our emotions to dictate our logic and reasoning that we end up messing up.

Bible Study: Can I Lose My Salvation?

Those who are familiar with my theology know that I'm not a Calvinist. But I do believe that I cannot lose my salvation. However, the eternal security that I have is very different from the P of TULIP which is what Calvinism teaches. I would in fact argue logically that it is absolutely impossible for a Calvinist to have assurance of salvation, and that ultimately Calvinism teaches an inverted works-based salvation, which I will delve into first. Notice that I'm not going to quote a lot of scriptures in this article, but rather use simple logic to explain why I hold this position. If you want more scriptures, resources and materials on the subject, I would advise you to look into Dr. Leighton Flowers' research on the subject; you can find his stuff on Soteriology 101.

According to the U of TULIP in Calvinism, or 'Unconditional Election', even the faith that is required to receive the gift of salvation is itself a gift from God, therefore election unto salvation is completely out of our hands and up to God in an absolute sense. Non-Calvinists reject this theology and teach that the faith that is required to receive the gift of salvation is man's responsibility and ultimately the reason why some will end in the lake of fire. Now putting on the Calvinist's worldview, assuming their understanding of the Bible is correct, how can a Calvinist possibly know that they have been elected by God unto salvation? Notice that they cannot possibly appeal to anything subjective because according to their worldview, election unto salvation is completely and absolutely unconditional, regardless of our subjective desires, beliefs or works. They can either derive their assurance from their "faith" or what they believe, but as John Calvin taught, some are predestined to believe for a season, and then fall away. So how can they possibly know that they are not one of those. Alternatively, they can derive their assurance from their works which confirms what I said above that consistent Calvinism is an inverted works-based salvation. In other words, consistent Calvinists have to ultimately derive their assurance from their works.

I on the other hand, and those who agree with me can in fact make a logical case for eternal security. We can look at salvation like a surgery that is needed to be done on our hearts. We visit the doctor and decide to exercise faith in the doctor. Once we sign the forms and give consent to the doctor as part of exercising faith in the doctor, we will end up in the surgery room and once the doctor is done, we will be healed from whatever kind of heart disease we were suffering from. In my systematic, I choose to exercise faith in the doctor and therefore, I can derive my assurance from what I know about the doctor who is God and all-powerful in this case. While in the Calvinist's systematic, the doctor has to choose them and since the doctor is God in this case, and we do not have access to the book of life, which according to Calvinists is a list of those who have been chosen and predestined before they were even born, or had done anything good or evil, there will be no way of knowing whether they are in the list or not, so they have to ultimately trust themselves; their feelings, beliefs, and works. While putting on my worldview, people like me can actually trust God directly. In other words, logically speaking, given the two different systems of thoughts, I can trust God directly to save me because I believe God wants to save everyone, while the Calvinist has no option other than trusting himself/herself that God has chosen to save them.

I believe those who have saving faith and are therefore truly saved will not shrink back, and will ultimately persevere to the end as we read in Hebrews 10:39. This does not mean that those who are truly saved, will never lose faith or will never backslide at any time, but rather they will ultimately end the race, not because of their grip on Christ, but because of Christ's grip on them. In fact, in Ephesians 5:30, we read that we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. In John 6:37, Jesus says, "All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away." He continues on and says, "For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of Him who sent me. And this is the will of Him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those He has given me, but raise them up at the last day." Notice how Jesus says that He is not going to lose any of the ones the Father has given to him. But the question is who are the ones the Father gives to Jesus? The very next verse, John 6:40, gives us the answer to this crucial question. "For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day."

In John 10:27, Jesus says, "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me." He continues on and says, "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one." At the end of Romans 8, Paul tells us that he is convinced that nothing can separate us from God's love. He tells us that God works in all things for the good of those who love Him. In Ephesians 1:13-14, Paul tells us that when we believed, we were included in Christ; that we were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession. If you are truly born-again, and if you have truly received the Holy Spirit, and are in Christ, and if you have truly drunk from the well that Jesus spoke of, then you shall never thirst again, as Jesus Himself prophesied in John 4:14. And finally, in 1 John 2:19, we read that those who have left us, did not really belong to us, for if they had, they would have remained with us.

What about the warnings? What about Romans 11:21 or 2 Peter 2:20? What about Hebrews 6:4-8 or Hebrews 10:26? Is God just bluffing? I do not believe so. We should never dull the edge of God’s warnings with our systematic. I believe these warnings are real and they are for those who may be self-deceived into thinking they have something that they don't. In fact the context of these warnings is quite clear that it's talking about false converts. For instance, the warning in Hebrews 10:26 ends with Hebrews 10:29 which I used above to support my case for eternal security. This is why in 2 Corinthians 13:5 Paul exhorts his listeners to, “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith.” Paul is not concerned for those who are truly in the faith, but for those who may be self-deceived. The only way the self-deceived may come to realise their error is by examining themselves to see if Christ is truly in them. Also, notice that in Hebrews 12:6, we read that the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastens everyone He accepts as His son. As we can see, God disciplines those He adopts; so this idea that God's grace can be used as a licence to sin is purely fictitious. God's grace is a license FOR sin, not a license TO sin. And if you love sin and hate discipline, then embrace yourself for trouble, distress, wrath, punishment, and ultimately death.

To recap, based on my understanding of the Bible, salvation can neither be lost nor forfeited as Arminians generally like to argue. It can however be misunderstood, or misconstrued. This is why it's crucial to test ourselves to see if we are truly in the faith. If you want to know whether you're truly in the faith or not, consider reading my previous article.

Bible Study: What Kind of Faith Does God Require?

There are a lot of confusions among both believers and unbelievers about faith. As far as I'm concerned, the word "faith" has at least four different definitions and applications in the Bible. The first one is in light of Romans 4:5 which is man's responsibility; in other words, it's something that God expects from us. The second one is in light of James 2:19 which is something that even demons have, but it's "belief that" rather than "belief in" and won't save us. "Belief that" is a matter of knowledge, whereas "belief in" is a matter of trust. The third one is in light of Hebrews 12:2 which refers to the Christian faith or Christianity in general; not something we do, but rather something that Christ has done for us. We didn't create the Christian faith or Christianity; Christ did. The last one is in light of 1 Corinthians 12:9 which refers to faithfulness or the the kind of faith that is required to end the race after coming to Christ, which is a gift from the Holy Spirit, so that God's promise of redemption is guaranteed as Ephesians 1:14 states.

The Gospel is clear that eternal life is a gift from God, not by works so that no one can boast; we just have to receive it through faith. But how can we receive this gift, if we can't believe the Gospel? We obviously can't. And how can we believe the Gospel, if we don't trust God with all of our heart, mind and soul since knowledge and wisdom begin with God? We obviously can't. This is why it all comes down to one word, which is "faith". In general it may be said that temporal faith which does not save is grounded in the emotional life and only seeks personal enjoyment rather than the glory of God and is therefore a selfish faith that does not save. The kind of faith that God requires in the Bible in order to save us is one that is grounded in Him alone, with the ability to see beyond emotions and what might seem to be a contradiction, and is therefore a selfless faith. In Romans 4:16 and James 2:21, we read about Abraham's faith as an example of a kind of faith that saves. In Hebrews 11:17-19, we read that by faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned." Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death! As we can see, Abraham trusted God and managed to see beyond his emotions and what might have seemed like a contradiction.

Critics like to argue that we have a blind and irrational faith. But as we read above, Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead. Therefore, his faith was neither blind, nor irrational. Not only that, everybody already trusts God with their senses and cognitive faculties. It would be absolutely foolish to say that for example child molestation could be moral, and the reason we think it's immoral, could be because God is manipulating our senses. Now someone might object to me and say that what God asked Abraham was almost the same as child molestation, but that is neither true nor accurate not to mention that this objection completely ignores the historical context of this event. You have to understand that during Abraham's time, child sacrifice was a very common practice and pagans had been deceived that by sacrificing their children to their false gods, they could earn their favors. God wanted to demonstrate to the pagans that He has faithful followers who are willing to do what they are doing, but this is not what the Creator of this world wants!

Furthermore, the Bible tells us that we should not put the LORD our God to the test and there are good reasons for that. How are we exactly going to test our Creator? Everything we want to use to test God is already created either by God or through Him or is eternal and part of His nature since God is by definition the origin of everything that exists. If we already trust the things that God has created such as our senses and our cognitive faculties, wanting to test God with them or refusing to trust God with everything else is therefore nothing more than a childish tantrum. Because if God was supposedly "evil", He would manipulate our cognitive faculties, and get us to do whatever He wants, and even give us the illusion of freedom and choice. Therefore, in order to doubt God's goodness, you would have to first trust Him, and if you trust Him with certain things such as your senses and cognitive faculties, then no offense, but you would have to be a fool to refuse to trust Him with everything else!

In Isaiah 29:16, God says: You turn things upside down! Shall the Potter be regarded as the clay, that the thing made should say of its Maker, “He did not make me”; or the thing formed say of Him who formed it, “He has no understanding?” This is a clear demonstration of the folly of refusing to trust God or our Maker. Proverbs 1:7 says: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. Notice that fearing God in this context does not mean being scared of God, but rather having respect and reverence for God. You cannot learn from God, if you're scared of Him. You can only learn if you draw near to Him through faith with respect and reverence. Always remember that wisdom and knowledge begin with God!