Pullman WA - Gospel Messengers

In all other areas of life, people usually recognize that it is not the sincerity of the belief, but the object of the belief that is important.  When someone boards an airplane, it doesn’t matter how sincere their faith is in the airplane, what matters is the airplane itself.  Was it well maintained?  Is is well designed?  Will it safely take them on their journey?  Likewise when someone decides to step on to the ice on a lake, it doesn’t matter how sincerely they believe that the ice will hold their weight.  What matters is how thick and how solid the ice is.

This all seems like common sense, but when it comes to the question of what will happen when we die, many people seem to abandon this common sense and declare that as long as they sincerely believe something, they will be fine as if their sincerity somehow makes it true.

I have spoken with many people who tell me that they have no idea what happens after death.  Some sincerely believe that all consciousness will end.  Others sincerely believe that they will go to heaven because they haven’t done anything terrible in life.  Others sincerely declare that what happens after death is something not to be worried about until we die.  All these people are sincere in their belief, but as we have seen, the question is not their sincerity, but the object of their faith.  In all these cases, the object of their faith is themselves.  The one who believes that all consciousness ends is putting his faith in his own ability to declare what will happen after death, something about which he knows nothing.  The one who believes the he is good enough to get to heaven is putting his faith in his own goodness.  The one who believes that what happens after death is something that he shouldn’t worry about is again putting his faith in his own ignorance.  None of these people know what they say with certainty.  What they declare is simply what they hope is the case.   In spite of what they say, it is really not safe to die unless you know where you are going when you die.

If we are to know where we are going after death, we must look to some source of information outside of ourselves because we just don’t know.  It must be a source of knowledge much more reliable than ourselves because as we have seen, the issue is not the sincerity of our belief, but the nature of our object of faith.

I personally put my faith in Jesus Christ who is God, who created us and who tells us what will happen when we die.  How do I know about Him?  I read the Bible which claims over 200 times to be the Word of God, something no other book does.  Furthermore, it demonstrates repeatedly that it is the Word of God through fulfilled prophecy.  By demonstrating His knowledge of the future, God demonstrates to us that He is indeed a trustworthy source of information about what will happen to us when we die.  If anyone had any doubt about whether Jesus Christ told us the truth when He said, “I am the resurrection and the life, he who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live,” Jesus Christ rose from the dead to assure us that He was indeed God and that we will
also rise some day as He did if we put our trust in Him.

Have you put your trust in the all knowing, all powerful God of the universe who created you, or in the opinions of yourself or some other finite, fallible person. The object of your faith IS the issue.

Jesus said: “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.” John 5:24

“Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.” Acts 16:31

Imagine you are lying sick, soon to die from a deadly disease.  A
skilled doctor hands you the
medicine that will cure you and tells you to take it.  What would you do?

A. Take the medicine.

B. Throw away the medicine and randomly take medicine from the cabinet hoping to find something that will work.

C. Take any medicine except the one the doctor instructed you to take.

D. Ignore the doctor's instructions and wait to die.

E. Insist that you will not die from the disease.

F. Attack the doctor who gave you the medicine.

Obviously, if you want to live, the logical response would be to take the medicine and thereby live.  This
may seem straightforward to us, but unfortunately we all have a
sickness which needs a cure and many do not follow the logical and
sensible course.  We are all sinners.  We do not measure up to God’s
standard of right and wrong and will end up in hell as a result. 
Fortunately for us, God loved us so much that He gave His Son Jesus
Christ to die for our sins so that we can have eternal life through
belief in Him.

It makes no sense to reject His gift of salvation.  It makes no
sense to ignore His offer.  It makes no sense to reject the solution. 
When your life (in this case, your eternal life) is on the line, it
makes no sense to try random solutions when God has revealed the only
true solution.  It makes no sense to attack or criticize God for
providing this solution.  He is the One who loved you and provided it
for you.

All are spiritually sick and in need of help.  The Bible says, “All
we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own
way.” Isaiah 53:6

Jesus said, “Most assuredly I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.” John 6:47.

What will you do?  Will you accept God’s solution?

Much debate has abounded in recent years over whether evolution is a science or a religion on a similar level as the other religions of the world.  The scientific method is very useful in expanding our knowledge of the world, but is it capable of answering the question of origin?

First of all, let’s define the scientific method.

As described by many scientists, the scientific method involves:

1. Make an observation

2. Use the observation to make a falsifiable prediction as to what may happen in the future.

3. Test the prediction to see if it successfully avoids falsification.

4. If the hypothesis is not falsified by testing, it gains predictive value.

5. If the prediction fails, the hypothesis must be either modified or discarded completely in favor of a new hypothesis.

I specifically mention the issue of falsifiability because much emphasis has recently been placed on the falsifiability of the conclusions of science.  Scientists have come to realize that the scientific method can only falsify or fail to falsify a hypothesis.  It can never absolutely verify any conclusion.  The scientific method can tell us what is highly probable, but not absolutely what will happen.  Science can only make predictions about the future.

So is evolution solidly based upon the scientific method?

Having examined the theory of evolution, I have come to the conclusion that it is not based upon the scientific method for three reasons.

1. Proponents of the evolutionary theory frequently state their theory as fact and even claim that it has been absolutely proven.  Science is incapable of absolutely proving anything, therefore, the evolutionary theory is actually a belief adhered to on the basis of faith.

2. The theory of evolution consists of statements which cannot be falsified, and thus cannot be tested.  For example, it states that given enough time and the right conditions, life will eventually come into existence from non-life.

3. Evolution makes statements about historical events.  We must never confuse history with science.  Historical events cannot be falsified (tested) by the scientific method because we can never go back in time and observe a historical event.  Nor can we identically replay a historical event and find out what would happen.  We may observe current phenomenon and the current effects of past events and devise a theory about what may have happened, but we cannot prove by means of the scientific method what did or did not happen in the past.  Thus, historical statements are not scientific.

It is not necessarily a bad thing for a statement or belief to not be scientific, nor does it mean that the statement or belief is wrong.  We live most of our lives operating based on believing what others have told us.  We could not possibly live our lives based upon theories derived by the scientific method.  Furthermore, the scientific method is based upon five unprovable premises that must be accepted by faith.

1. Science is based upon the belief that the world is real and the human mind is capable of knowing its real nature.

2. Science is based upon the principle of cause and effect, that every effect demands an adequate cause.

3. A basic scientific premise is that nature is unified, in other words, it all fits together and makes sense together.

4. Scientific inquiry depends upon the premise that there is order in the universe and that we can observe this order.

5. Science is based upon the premise that our experience bears a true relationship to the orderliness of the world, that our experience is meaningful, and that we can understand it.

The bottom line is that science  is not as we might think, simply a tool we use to decide what to believe.  We believe a great deal before we can even use science.

These beliefs have an affect on our science.  For example, do we believe that anything can happen, and that all possibilities are open, or do we believe that there are things which cannot happen.  For example, most proponents of evolution believe that anything we do not regularly observe happening naturally (that is supernatural), cannot happen and has never happened in the past.

We can ask the question: Is this a fair and unbiased way to approach the facts?  Is it possible that this world and life came into existence under different circumstances than what we observe right now?

Christians claim to have revelation from God Himself in which He tells them how the world came into existence.  In the Bible, God says that He created the world by His omnipotent power.

Are you willing to consider the words of God when examining the evidence, or do you reject them, choosing only to consider a position that does not include God?

If God’s claims are true, He is clearly a trustworthy source of information.

Most proponents of evolution will declare a lack of evidence for believing in God and His Word, however it is apparent that the issue is not lack of evidence, but their beliefs which determine how they interpret the evidence.

Christians and evolutionists both look at the same evidence.  Both examine the intricate and awesome design we see around us.  One sees the work of an infinitely intelligent designer.  The other sees the work of millions of years, random forces and the coincidence of a perfect set of circumstances.  One sees a world with life on it created for a purpose.  The other sees what is just an accident of nature that happened to turn out amazingly well.  When the Christian considers man’s sense of moral obligation, his capacity for love, the laws of logic, the existence of intelligent and self-conscious thought, and the existence of life itself, he recognizes that we are not just material but also spiritual beings possessing a future beyond death.  When an evolutionist looks at the same characteristics in man, he sees only the firing of neurons and the secretion of hormones, all of which resulted ultimately from a chance arrangement of proteins.

The main difference between the Christian and the evolutionist is that the evolutionist puts his faith in himself as the judge of what can and cannot be, and proceeds to develop his own theory of how the world came about, while the Christian puts his faith in what he believes is God’s revelation to him.

The bottom line is that evolution is a religion based on faith, just like Christianity.

Author’s personal note:

In view of God’s revelation to me which I see all around me, every day, and in every way, and in view of God’s written revelation to me in the Bible, I firmly believe not only that God created me, but also that I will spend eternity with God in heaven because of Jesus Christ’s love for me.  I know that I am not good enough to get to heaven on my own, but Jesus Christ came to earth to provide for the salvation of all mankind.  He offers salvation to those who put their faith in Him.

My belief in the Bible and in God’s creation of the universe, far from hindering me in the study of science, leads me to expect and seek design and order in creation.

I cannot imagine living with the uncertainty and emptiness which would surround the belief that I was the product of chance, the product of an accident, with no purpose or meaning in life.  It is my hope that you too will open your eyes to God’s revelation which is around you and that you will recognize that He created you and that you need to put your trust in Him for your personal salvation.

Jesus Christ Himself said, “Most assuredly I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life,” John 6:47.  “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved,” Acts 16:23.

If you would like to contact me to discuss these subjects, my e-mail address is mark@gospelmessage.info.  More information is on my website at www.gospelmessage.info