Tag: Christ

Homosexual Marriage… What does the Bible say?

I received the following email from one, Joshua Suh:

It seems like the last two videos were about love? Is this in correlation to valentines day coming up?! hahah, what does contradict say about gay love? Not that I’m gay or condone gay marriage, it’s always so relevant though, this whole, ” progression” “down with the ignorant conservative” movement, but I would be interested in hearing contradicts opinion from a biblical perspective, aside from all the political banter, just biblical facts. It often happens people quote or misunderstand Bible Verses.. out of context about homosexual marriages! There is always the Inner ” Christian Circle” argument” between Christians who support gays and christians who don’t, which doesn’t really help our case if we can’t agree upon it ourselves..): But what would Contradict say about this?!!

gay marriage

What stood out to me was that he didn’t want to hear any politics, just biblical facts.

  1. On Judging – First, I have heard it said a lot that we shouldn’t judge others.  People who say this are likely getting this view from Matthew 7:1, which says, “Judge not, that you be not judged.”  When more of chapter 7 is read we see that, “For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”  This shows that we can judge others, only after we have addressed our own sins first.  If you notice, the judging in that situation is done with the goal of helping your brother remove the speck from his eye.  Matthew 7 also falls with the Sermon on the Mount which is leading us to see that none of us righteous enough to enter heaven.  We all need a Savior!  This means we can’t throw judgment upon others, while claiming that we are righteous on account of our own merit.
  2. Marriage in the Bible – Marriage is established in Genesis Chapter 2 at the creation of humanity as a relationship between a man and a wife.  Genesis 2:18, 21-24 reads:

The Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him’…and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh.

Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, ‘This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.’ For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.

3. Homosexuality is a Sin – I pulled the following verses from a John MacArthur article that shows God opposing homosexuality throughout all of his Word to us:

– In the patriarchs (Genesis 19:1-28)

– In the Law of Moses (Leviticus 18:22; 20:13)

– In the Prophets (Ezekiel 16:46-50)

– In the New Testament (Romans 1:18-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Jude 7-8)

Of these I often cite, Leviticus 18:22 from the Old Testament, to show that homosexuality is a sin, which says, “You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination,”  and I quote Romans 1:22-27, which I recommend all of you to look up and read directly.

Consider supporting my Kickstarter project for my second book, GP – God’s Promise.  The fundraising is all or nothing for meeting my goal and the deadline is July 15th, 2019.  Thanks. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/contradictmovement/gp-gods-promise

4. Division among Christians – Josh mentioned that there are divisions among Christians on this issue.  I firmly believe that if all the passages listed above are read, it’s unavoidable to come to the conclusion that God sees homosexual activity as sinful.  As we share God’s standard with others, I think we need to approach it as Jesus commanded, by removing the log from our own eye first.  We all have lusted, which means we all have committed adultery in our hearts (Matthew 5:27-28).  We all need a Savior and we all must come to repentance.  We all have sins that we will struggle with throughout this life.  The struggle against sin is a sign that we have faith in Christ.  Hebrews 10:26-29 says:

 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left,  but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.  Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.  How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?

Andy Wrasman1 Comment

Contradict Bumper Sticker Explanation

With every Contradict bumper sticker shipment, a double-sided page of explanation is also shipped.  The goal with Contradict Movement is to have as many Contradict stickers on cars, or laptops, as there are Co-exist stickers.  Beyond the sheer numbers, the goal is to also have the Contradict stickers represented by Christians who know and can share the information contained in the page of explanation.  This page of explanations is downloadable at http://www.contradictmovement.org for printing and sharing and Contradict stickers may be ordered at the site too.  Here is the basic explanation of Contradict, and please note that it supports religious freedom and calls for a certain type of tolerance and respect:

What does this Contradict sticker mean?

Tolerance and co-existence are both great! In fact, they are necessary.    If we are to live together in peace without hating each other, or worse physically harming each other, over differences in race, culture, sexual orientation, political views, and even religious beliefs, we all must have tolerance for one another.  However, we must recognize that every belief can’t be equally valid.   If two beliefs directly contradict each other, both of them cannot be true, no matter how tolerant we become.   This means it is false to say that every religion is true, or that every religion leads to God.  If people make such claims they are showing that they have not taken the time to study the world’s religions, because a brief reading of the sacred texts of only a handful of religions quickly reveals contradictions on fundamental levels.

Religious Contradictions

Reincarnation (Hinduism and Buddhism) contradicts the belief that this life is the only life before eternity (Christianity, Judaism, and Islam).

Pantheism (Hinduism) contradicts the belief that there is only one transcendent God (Christianity, Judaism, and Islam), and both of these beliefs contradict the belief that there is no God (Theravada Buddhism and Atheism).

Salvation from sin (Christianity) contradicts the belief that there is no sin to be saved from but simply pain that can be escaped through enlightenment (Buddhism).

Jesus is the incarnate, Son of God (Christianity), contradicts the teaching that he is just a prophet (Islam) or that he was a false prophet (Judaism).

Jesus died as an atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world and rose from the grave contradicts the belief that Jesus ascended into heaven while never dying on a cross, or facing death of any kind (Islam).

All religions that suggest that the merits of an individual can free a person from humanities ultimate problem of death contradict Christianity’s teaching that “we are saved by grace through faith in Christ, which is a gift, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8).

In light of these contradictions, all religions can’t be true.  They could all potentially be false, but they can’t all be true.

How can one know which religion is true, if any?

To discern if a belief is true, it needs to be testable.  The scientific method can’t test most of the claims found in the world’s religions, but science is not our only means of verifying the legitimacy of truth claims.  In the case of judging religious truth claims, historical-forensic evidence needs to be utilized. No other religion than Christianity has at its center, a historical event that can be evaluated in such a manner to prove or disprove the religious truth claims.  Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15 that if Christ did not rise from the grave that his faith is futile and his testimony about Jesus would be a lie.  If someone could prove that Jesus did not rise from the grave, then the resurrection would be considered a false claim and the Christian faith should be rejected.  On the flip side, if Jesus rose from the grave, it confirms that Jesus’ claim to be “the way, the truth, and the life, the only way to Father” (John 14:6) is true!  If he did not rise from the grave, then Jesus was a liar and Christians ought to be pitied above all men.

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Is there evidence that Jesus rose from the grave?

The good news for Christians and all of humanity is that the New Testament is the best attested ancient manuscript in terms of the number of copies it has, the dates of the copies to their original writings, and the accuracy of the copies.  In addition to this, the original Gospels were written by eyewitnesses, or written by people who wrote using eyewitness testimony.  This also means the authors were writing too close to the death and resurrection of Jesus for myths to have crept into the accounts.  Other witnesses, both friend and foe, would have known if the Gospel writers were telling lies and they would have revealed the Gospels to be false.  However, we have no such competing accounts from contemporaries.  We do on the other hand have non-Christian authors writing in the first and second centuries who affirm the claims of the Gospels, and no one in the first century was ever able to produce the bones of Jesus to disprove the empty tomb one Sunday morning.  The Jewish and Roman leaders and authorities had the motif and the means to disprove the resurrection, but they could not.  The best they could do was to persecute Christians as an attempt to stop the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  The apostolic circle in which the claim of Jesus’ resurrection originated never recanted their testimony in the face of martyrdom as they continued to proclaim the risen Christ all the way to their deaths.

Exclusive Claims and Teachings Concerning Salvation within the Bible

Mark 16:16 “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”

John 3:36 “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.”

John 14:6 “Jesus answered, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Acts 4:12 “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”

Ephesians 2:8-10 “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.  For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Acts 2:37-39 “When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers what shall we do?”  Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins.  And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off – for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

Jesus is the Savior of all people.  He is the Savior of the Buddhist, the Hindu, The Muslim, the Jew, the Satanist, the Atheist, the homosexual, the heterosexual, the republican, and the democrat – all people.  To all who have received him, to all who have called upon his name, he has given the right to be called children of God! (John 1:12)  Repent and be baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of sins. (Matt. 28:19 and Acts 2:38)

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Andy Wrasman3 Comments

There’s no way of knowing God!

Have you ever heard someone say, “There’s no way of knowing God”?

How did you reply?  Here are some possible replies that I hope you will find helpful

Validation:

With all the competing views of who God is, it is difficult to know which view of God is true.  If you mean that it’s hard to relationally know God, I’d agree with that too.  I mean, I know who the President of the United States is, but it’d be next to impossible for me to have relational knowledge with him.  I can’t just text him and meet up with for coffee as I could with any of my friends, and he’s just a human being, now imagine an all-powerful, all-knowing, eternal God, who happens to be everywhere at all times, oh, and he can’t be seen.  I agree; it would seem as if there is no way for us to actually know who he is.

Socratic Method:

“Does this mean you believe there is a God, he’s just not knowable? (if the answer is yes…) Why do you believe there is a God?  What makes you believe you can’t know God?  Do you think it’s possible that God has somehow revealed himself to us?”

“If there is a God and he created everything, why do you think he made us?  Do you think he’d want us to know him?  Do you think he would want to reveal himself to us if it was possible for us to know him?”

“If God were to reveal himself to us, how do you think he’d reveal himself to us?  The Bible teaches that Jesus was God incarnate, God in human flesh.  Who do you think Jesus is? How much do you know about Jesus?  Have you ever read the Gospels, the biographies written by eyewitnesses of Jesus Christ’s life, or written by people who wrote based on eyewitness testimony?”

Answer:

I think you are partially correct.  It’s impossible for us to know who God is on our own.  God is spirit and in our 4-dimensional existence of length, depth, width, and time, there is nothing we can do with our five senses of touch, smell, sight, hearing, and taste to uncover or discover who God is.  However, that doesn’t mean God is incapable of revealing himself to us.  God is God and he can do anything he pleases, and he has shown himself to us indirectly and directly.  God has indirectly revealed himself to us through what he has created.  When we look around us and observe the universe, we see design, order, complexity, and beauty all of which point to a creator.  When we consider the first cause of the universe, an eternal, all-powerful God who exists outside of time is the best explanation for the genesis, the beginning, of the universe.  Nothing comes from nothing, and life does not come from non-life, as the atheistic model of Darwiniansm projects.  So simply from what he has created, God has made it plain that he exists.  But I would also say that God has directly revealed himself to us through the person and work of Jesus Christ.  In Jesus Christ, the fullness of God dwelled in human flesh and he proved his divinity through his life, death, and resurrection.

Jesus Christ Crucifix

Scripture:

Romans 1:18-20 – “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.  For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.”

Colossians 2:9 – “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.”

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All Religions Teach the Same Thing.

Have you ever heard someone say, “All religions teach the same thing”?

I know I have.  Here is a response that I find helpful.  It comes in a few different segments.  First, it is good to validate the argument, you know, show that you understand where the person is coming from and that you can relate to why he or she might feel this way.  Don’t validate the argument, unless you will provide the appropriate rebuttal.  Here you can spoon feed the correct answer to the person, or you can ask a bunch of questions that lead the person the fault in professing that all religions have the same doctrines.  It’s good to know a few Scripture verses to support what you are saying from God’s Word and it’s always the goal to present the Gospel in any apologetic endeavor.

Symbol of the major religions of the world: Ju...
Symbol of the major religions of the world: Judaism, Christianity, Taoism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Validation:

I think many religions agree on certain points, such as there is life after death, or that there is some sort of higher power or entity in the universe, and most religions have similar moral laws, so I can see where people can come to this conclusion.  I think the real reason people come to this conclusion is because they don’t want to exclude anyone from having the best existence possible after this life.  We don’t want to say anyone is wrong and we want to avoid drawing lines of division which lead to segregation, elitism, and at times hate and violence.

Answer:

It might be possible to squeeze the world’s religions into teaching the same thing on secondary, or superficial, levels, but on the primary, or fundamental, doctrines, they contradict each other.  For instance, Christians believe that Jesus is God and the Savior of the world, where as Muslims believe that Jesus is just a prophet who should not be worshiped, and Jews, at least conservative Jews, would say that Jesus was a false prophet.  These are just the views of three religions concerning one person in history!  Clearly, they don’t all teach the same thing and they can’t all be true due to their contradictory teachings.

Socratic Method:

“How do they all teach the same thing?”

“On what doctrine do they all agree?”

“Do they all teach the same thing concerning the afterlife?”

“Do they all agree on what mankind’s ultimate problem is and how that problem can be overcome?”

“Do they all agree on who, or what, God is?  Do they all even believe in an eternal, transcendent God?”

“How do Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism teach the same thing?”

Scripture:

1 Timothy 4:1 – “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.”

Acts 4:12 – “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name [Jesus] under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”

Back to the Gospel:

Let’s look at what Christianity teaches concerning the way of salvation.  Romans 4:4-5 says, “Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.”  In Christianity, salvation is free for men.  God steps into redeem and rescue mankind through the work of Jesus Christ.  None of us can save ourselves by our own work, or merit, because we are all sinful people who do evil.  In all other religions, people must work to earn a good afterlife.  In Hinduism, a person must practice yoga and have good karma.  In Buddhism, a person must follow the eight-fold path.  In Islam, a person must excel in the five pillars of the Islamic faith.  In Judaism, Jews have rejected Jesus their Messiah and have chosen to justify themselves through observance of the Law.  All religions do not teach the same thing.  In Christianity, salvation is free.  In all other religions, salvation, if they call it salvation is not free and must be earned through personal works.

Andy Wrasman9 Comments

Which take is better?

Both of these takes were filmed, unrehearsed with just two bullet-points of notes, namely answer a complaint or two I have received from people concerning “Contradict” and be sure to read Colossians 1:15 in my response.  Take 1 was much longer than Take 2, but longer isn’t always better.  Which take is better and why?

Take 1

Take 2

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