How Much Faith Is Enough?

Recently I commented on pamphlets given to a member of our church. These pamphlets, authored by Harold camping of Family Radio, announce that the world as we know it will end on May 21, 2011. This announcement is bold and striking enough but Camping goes on to warn true believers to withdraw from churches of any kind because according to Camping no church has the Word of salvation and that all churches have false doctrine of which the most offensive is that anyone who
chooses to receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ is saved. According to Camping God chooses who will be saved and to say man can choose is in itself sin.

In a pamphlet entitled “I Hope God Will Save Me”, Camping further explains his ideas concerning salvation. Since God chooses who will be saved, Jesus did not die for all mankind and “whosoever” means only those who come with all their heart, soul, strength and mind which is evidenced by a faith that God gives to those who He chooses to save, whether or not they want to be saved. Anyone who desires to be saved cannot unless God chooses him. All he can do is “cry, beg, and beseech God that maybe they too might become saved” (“No Man Knows The Hour”). Thus Camping reduces the promise of God given to us in Romans 10:13 (Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved”) to an uncertain hope that if someone repents long enough, prays hard enough and does the right things (such as withdraw from church), maybe, just maybe, God will, in His mercy, give him salvation. Consequently, Camping has reduced the promise of salvation to a vague hope based on works.

Camping explains the promise given in Romans 10:13 as meaning that those who believe with all their heart, soul, strength and mind will be saved. Such perfect faith only comes as a gift from God as he saves an individual that He chooses to save. Those who desire to come to God are not saved unless He chooses to give them that perfect faith. The problem with this is how can anyone, even Camping, be sure that he has such faith? How much faith is enough?

When Camping says “all your heart, soul and mind”, one can only assume he is referring back to the Law of the Old Testament as mentioned in Luke chapter ten. A lawyer tested Jesus asking what was needed to inherit eternal life. Jesus in return asked the lawyer what the Law said, to which came the reply, “Love the Lord with all your heart, soul, strength and mind and to love your neighbor as yourself”. Jesus replied that what the man said was accurate as far as the Law was conerned. However, no man has ever been saved by the Law which can only condemn. No man  has lived up to this standard? It is precisely because we cannot that Jesus died on the Cross to bring us forgiveness for our shortcomings.

Consider believers in the Bible. Did they have perfect faith? Hebrews mentions Gideon, Barak, Samson and David, all of which showed by their actions that they had anything but perfect faith. Consider also that while God pronounced that Abraham’s faith was accounted to him as righteousness in Genesis 15:6, in the following chapter Abraham committed an act of unbelief by which Ishmael was born. Paul mentioned in Romans 7:15 that he too would sometimes do what he would not do. 1 John 1:8, written to believers, indicates we all still sin. Doesn’t sin indicate we do not have perfect faith and that we do not love the Lord with all our heart, soul, strength and mind?

Jesus invites all who labor and are heavy laden to come. It is an open invitation. Would it have been fair of Him to invite those that had no possibility of coming and still invite, “All” to come? Who then are those God has given? Who are those God has called? The simple answer is the “whosoevers” of this world. We don’t have to make it complicated. God said in John 3:16 “whosoever believeth in Him (Jesus), shall have everlasting life.” Does it have to be a perfect faith? Can it be a perfect faith this side of eternity?

Jesus said if we have the faith of a mustard seed we could remove mountains (Matthew 17:20). What bigger mountain is there than our debt to sin? In Mark nine, Jesus honored the faith of a father who said, “I believe, help thou my unbelief.” The point is not the amount of faith, but the object. Ephesians 2:8,9 says, “By Grace are ye saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast”. Even our faith comes from God, in this Camping is correct. However, He gives it to the “Whosoevers” who will come. Is it wrong to take God at His promise? I come even though my faith is not perfect. He only asks me to receive (John 1:12, I Corinthians 15:1-2). He gives all I need to do so. To believe less is to doubt His Word and that is sin.

Religion or Relationship

 

The popular consensus is that all religions are equal. Each individual is entitled to seek God in his own way. All ways lead to God even when each religion gives Him a different name. It then is seen as prejudice to state that one way is better than another, and that religions other than one’s own will lead to eternal damnation. The truth of the matter is that all religions are not the same.

Consider this fact: the gods named in the various religions are not the same, so how then can the religions be the same? For example some religions maintain there is a personal god, i.e., a god who is a person and has a personality (Christianity, Islam, Judaism) as opposed to a god who is a Force who is present in all of nature (Eastern Mysticism, New Age beliefs). Hinduism has many gods and Humanism purports that Man is his own god. So if all these gods are different, how can the ways to approach them be the same? In some religions man is always trying to appease his god while in other religions man is trying to bring out his godhead from within himself.

If religion is “the recognition of and belief in a superhuman power or powers to whom obedience, reverence, and worship are due (Thorndike and Barnhart Dictionary)” and religious duties are those things an individual does to gain acceptance with this power or powers, how one gains this acceptance is affected by how he or she perceives God to be. In other words, all religions are not the same. Some  religions teach the goodness of all men. Some religions teach strict rules and rituals. Some treligions teach definite principles of right and wrong and still some teach that all is relative with no set principles of right and wrong at all.

True Christianity is different in that it does not follow the definition of religion set above. Where religion is Man’s efforts to reach out to God, Whoever or Whatever that may be, biblical Christianity describes God’s efforts to reach out to Man. Biblical Christianity is a love story. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish have
everlasting life.” God created Man to have fellowship with Himself. But Man has gone his own way resulting in separation from God. The Bible is God’s love letter to us explaining how God is seeking to reconcile with us.

God doesn't desier religion. He wants a relationship with us. He doesn’t require a complicated system of obedience, reverence and worship, He seeks to restore a relationship and obedience, reverence and worship will follow. God never pretends that Man can earn His way back into this relationship. True love is not earned. It is just received. The simple truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is this: “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).” This has resulted in separation from God. “But God commended His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).” This is the reconciliation. Christ died for our sins. He took our place on the Cross of punishment.

This was God’s plan all along. He revealed it long before Christ was born. It is written in Jewish Scripture. “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:6).” In short, God loved us so much that
He sent Jesus to die for our sins. He doesn’t expect us to do anything, but receive. “But as many as received Him, to them gave He the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name (John 1:12).” The question that comes to each of us is this, "In light of God’s love will you
choose to love God?"

Is The End Near?

A member  of our church handed me two pamphlets published by Family Radio which is under the leadership of Harold Camping. These pamphlets teach that Judgment Day is  coming on May 21, 2011, and that any person who is associated with any church  will be included in that judgment. It would be impossible to dispute all the  claims made in these pamphlet in this forum in that such an endeavor would involve  producing volumes of material. However, I feel it is important to address the major points and the dangers of Camping’s conclusions.

I will  start by pointing out that Camping predicting the end of the world is nothing new.  In the early nineties, I read his book 1994? (the question mark is part  of the title). In this book, Camping claimed that God’s judgment would come and  that the world as we know it would come to an end in 1994. I have often  wondered how he has explained away his error (apparently he has) and how any  who followed his teaching then would continue to follow it now. In the book 1994?,  Camping used a complicated system of numbers mentioned in the Bible as proof of his conclusions. To  Camping numbers when mentioned in the Bible always have specific meanings. The exact  meaning of each number seems to be established by Camping who leaves no room for disputation.  The fact that the world did not end in 1994 apparently has not caused Camping  to reconsider his system of calculation, in that he has continued his ideas as  evidenced in these two pamphlets.

Camping  maintains that the church age ended on May 21, 1988 and that the Holy Spirit  left churches at that time. He also maintains that anyone associated with a  church, is not saved because churches are full of false teachings and a true  believer would know that. His basis for this is Genesis 7:10-11 which depicts  the coming of the flood of Noah’s day. Camping applies the numbers mentioned in these  verses to predict the coming end-time judgment, something that is not at all  supported by the context of these verses in Genesis. The “strength” of Camping’s  argument lies in that he takes II Peter 3:8 to say that where you see a day in  Scripture is it the same as a thousand years when it refers to God (However, an  honest examination of II Peter 3:8 in context indicates that Peter is using the  expression “a day with God is as a thousand years” to indicate that time as we  know it is irrelevant to an eternal God. Peter was not telling us that where  you see a "day" in Scripture to substitute a thousand years). If you follow this  reasoning to its conclusions then you must also conclude that the earth was  created in six thousand years with God resting a thousand years and that the  floodwaters of Noah’s flood was on the face of the earth for several thousand  years. Nevertheless, Camping uses these numbers in saying that the age of the  church is dead and that judgment is coming May 21, 2011.

It is  easy to get caught up in Camping’s arguments which do have something compelling  about them unless you do your homework and check them out in Biblical context  both immediate and with all of Scripture. That so many Gospel preachers of the  past would disagree seems to leave Camping undaunted. And here is what is perhaps most dangerous about his teachings. He believes that salvation is all  of God and none of man (no disagreement here), but he sees this to mean that although  one may want to receive God, he can only be saved if God chooses to give him  that perfect faith to do so. Coming to Romans 10:13 which says, “Whosoever  shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved” is not enough according  to Camping whose God may turn away sinners seeking to come to Him. Belief, before we are saved is not enough because it is a work. The only belief that suffices is that which comes after we are saved. To Camping preaching that teaches men that that when you  call upon the name of the Lord you are saved is heresy becaues when you call God may or may not chose to give you that saving faith. The only  hope Camping's teachings give us is that we can pray to God repenting and hope that God will choose to save  us. In his interpretation, he destroys the promises of God expressed in John 3:16 and Acts 16 :31 all the while claiming he is not doing so. It makes one wonder
why anyone would follow his Gospel of uncertainty.

The setting
of dates for the coming judgment is nothing new. Many of the cults have begun
with just that. However, when the date arrives and the predictions of the cult
have not come about, usually the cult becomes discredited or it changes its
teachings in order to survive. The fact that Mark 13:32 says, “But of that day and [that] hour knoweth no man, no, not
the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father” referring to
the time of judgment, seems lost on Camping (who instead quotes Acts 1:7 which
is not as specific) who quotes Ecclesiastes 8:5 (“Whoso keepeth the commandment
shall feel no evil thing: and a wise man's heart discerneth both time and
judgment.”) out of context to mean that a righteous man will know that
which has not even been revealed to Christ Himself.

Camping in his zeal has caused much harm. This preacher has
encountered those whose confidence in Christ have been undermined because even
though they desire to be saved are not convinced that God has chosen them.
Camping confuses the issue of the Gospel. In a separate publication (I Hope God
Will Save Me), he undermines the Biblical principle of Whosoever Will by saying
that this means we must believe with all our heart soul and mind, which does
not happen until we are saved. Accordingly we can’t choose to be saved (he sees
that at a work on our part). God must first save us. In his teachings the
simple message of the Cross is lost. God calls the Whosoever wills. We come. He
will give us the necessary faith. He will not turn us away.

Camping has also done damage to local churches. More than one
individual has left his church because Camping says that only unsaved
individuals remain in them. The fact that we teach that any who will receive
Jesus is saved, receives condemnation from Camping who claims this is a false
teaching of the devil. To receive salvation one must believe (which he sees is
a work and not a saving belief), pray, read God’s Word and hope God will
save him. The power of the Gospel is destroyed in such teaching. Doesn’t it
reduce it to works? I rest upon “But as many as received Him to them gave He
the power to become the sons of God even too them who believe on His Name”(John
1:12). Here we have the idea of “Whosoever”. I’m glad I’m a “Whosever”.

So will the world end on May 21, 2011? Absolutely not! How do   know? Because Camping says it will, and  not even the Son of Man knows. I wonder what  Camping will say May 22. We don’t have that long to wait.