FAQ
Contents:
- What exactly is ‘speaking in tongues’?
- Thoughts on speaking in tongues?
- Thoughts on gay marriage?
- What are your views on masturbation? Is it wrong or right?
- What does hot tea taste like? I’ve never had it before.
- Has God shown you your calling, and how did you know?
- What are five of your favourite Bible verses?
- How do you know when the Holy Spirit is working in your heart? Would He ever make you feel guilty?
- How do you stay close to Jesus? Do you ever feel like your worship is meaningless? Do you ever feel like He says ‘Don’t come to me like you didn’t sin’?
- If you saw an attractive girl at a university visit, would you introduce yourself before going to uni or wait util you’re there?
- Does God still send signs (like in the Old Testament)? Do we need them since we now have full access to Him?
- Do you ever feel like you’re wasting time, doing ‘fun stuff’ when you could be witnessing instead?
- I keep falling into the same sin over and over again and feel like a failure.
- How should a Christian man act towards his future wife?
- Are you a Catholic?
- What do you mean ‘God the Father was pleased to crush Jesus, and Jesus willingly died’?
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What exactly is ‘speaking in tongues’?
It’s first of all a Spiritual gift. There a numerous gifts, such as prophecy, healing, wisdom, teaching, faith, knowledge, interpretation of tongues, and so on. Each gift is different, but are given by the same Holy Spirit. Not everyone has each one, some people may have prophecy but not tongues, for example. These are given for the common good, to glorify God, to build up the Church and to demonstrate God’s glory. However, tongues, without an interpretation, is the only one given to just build ourselves up. With an interpretation, it builds us up as well as others.
‘Tongue’ literally means language. The gift of tongues is another language that is given to the person. This can be an existing earthly language, or it could be a language unknown to us. After Jesus rose into Heaven, the apostles began speaking in tongues which were other earthly languages, and people from other nationalities could understand them (Acts 2). I also have a friend who spoke in tongues in a prayer meeting once, and someone told him that he was actually speaking in a middle eastern language (I can’t remember which), but my friend had no idea at the time.
When someone prays in tongues, they are praying with their spirit. But they don’t necessarily understand exactly what they are saying. 1 Corinthians 14:2 says, “For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit.”
My Study Bible notes say, “’Tongues’. Speech in a language the speaker does not know, and that sometimes does not follow the patterns of any known human language (1 Cor. 13:1). Paul sees this gift as a means of expressing prayer or praise to God (14:2, 14–17, 28; cf. Acts 10:46) in which the speaker’s human spirit is praying even though the speaker does not understand the meaning (see 1 Cor. 14:2, 11, 13–19, 23).”
However, with the gift of interpretation, we then can understand what is being said. An interpretation isn’t a translation, though, so it won’t be word for word. It is possible for two or more interpretations to be given of something spoken in tongues.
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Thoughts on speaking in tongues?
I believe they’re for today.
Here is a post about my reasons for the continuation of the Spiritual gifts:
http://onfireforgod.tumblr.com/charismatic-arguement
I speak in tongues quite a lot, I love it. I also have the gift of interpreting tongues, which is extremely edifying. All by God’s grace! If you speak in tongues, you should desire the gift of interpretation.
However, there is a lot of misuse of it, people using it irresponsibly. Also, it seems to have become a ‘badge of honour’ in the eyes of some. But Paul doesn’t write, “Eagerly desire the Spiritual gifts, especially tongues.” No, he writes, “Eagerly desire the Spiritual gifts, especially prophecy.” I see so little people especially desiring prophecy, while everybody seems to be running around wanting to speak in tongues. Paul does say that he wants all to speak in tongues, though. But he does also say that not everybody will. Anyway, here’s what 1 Corinthians 14 says about tongues, as well as some of my ESV Study Bible notes…
1 Corinthians 14:1-19
“Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. 2 For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit. 3 On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. 4 The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church. 5 Now I want you all to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be built up.
“6 Now, brothers, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching? 7 If even lifeless instruments, such as the flute or the harp, do not give distinct notes, how will anyone know what is played? 8 And if the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle? 9 So with yourselves, if with your tongue you utter speech that is not intelligible, how will anyone know what is said? For you will be speaking into the air. 10 There are doubtless many different languages in the world, and none is without meaning, 11 but if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker a foreigner to me. 12 So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church.
“13 Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret. 14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful. 15 What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also. 16 Otherwise, if you give thanks with your spirit, how can anyone in the position of an outsider say “Amen” to your thanksgiving when he does not know what you are saying? 17 For you may be giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not being built up. 18 I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. 19 Nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue.”
ESV Notes
On 1 Corinthians 12:10
”The normally unintelligible nature of ‘tongues’ makes their ‘interpretation’ necessary if the gathered community is to be edified by them (14:1–25). Paul probably placed the last two gifts at the end of the list because an overemphasis on tongues in Corinth had led to the neglect of those with other gifts (12:14–26).”On 1 Corinthians 14:16-17
”’with your spirit’. That is, with your spirit only (in tongues) but not understanding with your mind. ‘outsider’. An interested inquirer into Christianity (see vv. 23–24). Uninterpreted tongues in the assembly do nothing to build this person up and therefore nothing to move him or her toward a full commitment to Christ.”
1 Corinthians 14:20-25
20 Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature.21 In the Law it is written, “By people of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people, and even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord.” 22 Thus tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is a sign not for unbelievers but for believers. 23 If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter,will they not say that you are out of your minds? 24 But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, 25 the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you.
Notes:
On 1 Corinthians 14:20
”Paul is going to tell them not to speak in tongues in church without interpretation, for that is acting like ‘children’ and not caring for the needs of others.”On 1 Corinthians 14:21
”Paul alludes to Isa. 28:11, where God’s word of judgment against Israel is spoken in a foreign, unintelligible language by the invading Assyrian army”On 1 Corinthians 14:22
”’Thus tongues are a sign … for unbelievers’. Not a positive sign, to lead people to faith (as in John 2:11; 20:30–31), but as in 1 Cor. 14:21 a negative sign that facilitates God’s judgment on the unbelieving. Uninterpreted tongues function as a sign of judgment for the outsider and unbeliever because they may conclude from hearing them that Christians are ‘out of’ their ‘minds’ and so leave the church, never to return.”
1 Corinthians 14:26-28
“26 What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up. 27 If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret. 28 But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God. ”
Notes:
On 1 Corinthians 14:27
”’Each in turn‘ implies that speaking in tongues was not “ecstatic speech,” for the speakers were aware of what was happening in the meeting and could control themselves and take turns. ‘And let someone interpret‘ could include either the person speaking in tongues (see v. 13) or someone else.”On 1 Corinthians 14:28
”’And speak to himself and to God‘ means the speaker would use the gift of tongues privately in prayer, but not in public, since there was no interpreter.”
PJ Smythe has done two excellent, easy to understand, and well laid out articles on the gifts of tongues and interpretation:
http://www.godfirstblog.com/2011/11/the-gifts-of-tongues-interpretation-part-1/
http://www.godfirstblog.com/2011/11/the-gifts-of-tongues-interpretation-part-2/
Also, Francis (classyliving) has done a good video on it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_jE-xr5CkM&context=C3f5d22eADOEgsToPDskKNRla0OcEAG54L6sdHNof6
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Thoughts on gay marriage?
Funnily enough, I was just thinking about this earlier.
I’m for it, I think it should be legal.
Yeah, I know about the sanctity of marriage and all that. But if people are going to have integrity, they’d better get just as mad about divorce being legal.
Also, I do believe homosexuality is a sin. There was a point when I believed it wasn’t, but I re-evaluated my reasons and the scriptures I gave for it, and concluded that it is a sin.
However, I do not believe that is grounds for making gay marriage illegal. For example, sex before marriage is a sin too, and it goes against the sanctity of marriage. However, it is legal. Divorcing someone and then entering into another relationship is also a sin, and goes against the sanctity of marriage too. Yet that is legal. For the same reason that I believe they should be legal, I believe that gay marriage should be legal. That reason is that cleaning the outside of a cup won’t clean the inside. I’m not just talking about homosexuality here, I’m talking about sin in general. I don’t believe we should use state laws to try and make people ‘less sinful’, it won’t work. People need Jesus, not laws. Sin is increased by law, because to not submit to a state’s law is a sin too. People are already accountable to God’s moral law, and will have to answer to Him. If people aren’t obeying to His law anyway, then making them obey state law won’t make them obey His. Even if I don’t murder someone, if I hate them then I commit murder in my heart. It’s all about the heart, and only Christ’s love can change that. Furthermore, if gay marriage should be illegal because it is a sin, then a huge portion of heterosexual marriages should be too.
Those are my theological reasons. My sociological reason is that, if gay marriage is to be illegal because it is a sin in some religions, then surely eating anything other than halal meat should be illegal too? Think; if there was a religion which said that heterosexuality is a sin, and the state made heterosexual marriage illegal, you would be in uproar about it. But those in that religion would say that it is totally right of the state to do that because it is a sin in their religion. Forcing people to obey won’t make people comply if they don’t agree. Also, if people state that it should be illegal because a homosexual couple cannot produce a child, then should an infertile heterosexual couple be banned from marriage too? And if people worry about the child, statistics show that the percentages of children with each sexuality is the same in both heterosexual and homosexual couples.
“According to Barna Research, Christian couples are more likely to divorce than any other faith group. Let us not forget the words of Jesus, ‘He who is without sin, cast the first stone.’” - Michael Clevenger
I know a lot of Christians will disagree with me on this. But I am open to a discussion about it if you disagree with me. By discussion, I don’t mean you telling me I’m a heretic or telling me I’m stupid. That will just make me ignore you. A discussion based on reasoning is better than one based on winning.
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What are your views on masturbation? Is it wrong or right?
It is wrong, but not a sin. But you can’t do it without sinning.
There is absolutely nothing in the Bible which says to not masturbate, or even to masturbate. There is nothing specifically about it.
There are many verses about lust, but I think this is one of the most helpful on this subject…
1 Thessalonians 4:3-5
“3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, 5 not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God;”
Lust is a sin, and we are to flee all sexual immorality. Joel Virgo (son of Terry Virgo) told a story at Newday this year of his friend who was talking to his girlfriend, and the conversation began to stray into that direction. So he fled. Literally - across the park and across Brighton to his friend’s house. Fleeing isn’t dignified, no one says in battle, “Well, jolly-ho old chum, thanks for the battle, sorry about beheading your brother. We’ll be off now!” No, you turn and run for you life and fall over things and scream like a little girl away from the arrows and iron-clad berserkers. That’s how seriously God takes our sanctification.
‘To control his own body in holiness and honor’ is the key part for this subject. Masturbation is addictive, just like smoking. It creates a biological ‘need’ in our bodies to do it again, and each time the need gets stronger. If something is addictive, and you keep on submitting to that need, then you are not controlling your body. Furthermore, you cannot masturbate without being aroused. You simply can’t. If you weren’t beforehand, it will make you aroused. Submitting to that arousal is not controlling your body. Furthermore, it creates ‘pathways’ in your brain. Like when people keep walking the same route on a patch of grass, it creates a path way which is easier to walk on. In the same way, it creates an automatic neural pathway in your brain which your interactions with men/women link immediately with lust, sexual desires, sexual images or arousal. That’s not controlling your thoughts and taking each one captive in obedience to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). And since that neural pathway is physical, in your brain, it’s not controlling your body. Furthermore, it creates an emotional and physical reward or reinforcement. By then associating it with a reward, we are likely to do it again. Also it reinforces lust as rewarding. That is not controlling your body. We are to control our bodies in holiness and honour, in giving glory to God with our bodies.
Can you masturbate without lust? No. Arousal is a sexual desire, and submitting to that is lust. It is also usually started by sexual images (real or imagined), or leads to them. Someone may say, “As long as they’re only imagining it and not doing it, that’s fine.” But Jesus said in Matthew 5:27-28, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Someone may object and say that they’re not harming anyone else. But Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 6:18, “…Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.” Even so, all sin is against God. Some people fall into the lie that the body is secondary and unimportant. But in 1 Corinthians 6:12-20, Paul says that that is wrong.
Masturbation is not a sin, but you cannot do it without sinning.
Here are some good articles on it that I’d recommend:
http://theresurgence.com/2011/11/19/7-negative-effects-of-porn
http://theresurgence.com/books/porn_again_christian
This is about porn, not masturbation, but it’s very good stiil:
http://images.onlinepsychologydegree.net.s3.amazonaws.com/Porn-Addiction-In-America.jpg
XXX Church are an amazing organisation; setting people free from addiction, setting people free from shame, raising awareness of the damage the porn industry causes, helping those stuck in the porn industry.
http://www.xxxchurch.com/
Also, this video is pretty hilarious to add some humour to the subject:
http://youtu.be/-xOVjuy_nhI
Here are also some amazing videos by John Piper, Mark Driscoll, and others on how to deal with it and overcome it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDlrBQbWaoQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZgk_Q8wc2k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOq7khpJVoE&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9JgrJjyNzg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hglb3eREVQA&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjNK5SuWOIs&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ez2ISYYKo5A&feature=related
But there is power in the name of Jesus to break every chain. There is grace that forgives, removes shame, heals, restores, makes new, and transforms you. God’s grace does not just remove your sin, but empowers you to live a holy life free from sin. You are not a slave to sin any more, it has no dominion over you. You are free! You have been given a Spirit of self-control.
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What does hot tea taste like? I’ve never had it before.
Have you seriously never had hot tea?! I have about 8 cups a day. One of my friends has somewhere between 15-20 cups a day hahaha!
I can’t really describe it, there’s nothing like it. I’m trying to think of what to compare it to, but there isn’t anything really.
Get some tea bags (PG Tips are the best), boil some hot water in a kettle (or pan if you don’t have one). Then get two tea bags, put them in a tea pot, pour the boiling water in, and leave it to brew for about 5 minutes. Then out about a bit less than an inch of milk in a cup or mug. Then when it’s brewed (it will be a golden brown colour in the tea pot), pour the brewed water into the cup with the milk. If you don’t have a tea pot, put one tea bag into a cup or mug, pour the hot water into the cup and let it brew in the cup for a couple of minutes, about 2 to 3 minutes. Leave about an inch of the cup empty at the top. Then once it’s brewed into a blackish brown colour, remove the tea bag and put about an inch of milk in. Then experiment with however many sugars you want - I usually have about three tea spoons, but most people say that’s too sweet.
It should end up this colour:
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/06/19/article-1193865-056765DB000005DC-274_468x369.jpg
Or go to somewhere like Costa or Starbucks and ask for some tea.
I can’t imagine life without tea. It’s crazy hahaha. It will change your life forever.
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Has God shown you your calling, and how did you know?
Westminster Confession of Faith:
”I. All those whom God hath predestinated unto life, and those only, He is pleased, in His appointed time, effectually to call, by His Word and Spirit, out of that state of sin and death, in which they are by nature to grace and salvation, by Jesus Christ; enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God, taking away their heart of stone, and giving unto them an heart of flesh; renewing their wills, and, by His almighty power, determining them to that which is good, and effectually drawing them to Jesus Christ: yet so, as they come most freely, being made willing by His grace.”
Romans 8:29-30
“For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.”
Romans 1:7
”including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,”
Romans 1:7
”To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
1 Corinthians 1:9
”God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
1 Peter 2:9
”But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”
Those are my first and foremost callings.
I believe God has called me to preach, which has been confirmed many times by prophetic words from various people. I also believe that God has given me the gift of teaching (Romans 12:6-7, 1 Corinthians 12:28), which also supports that. I also feel called to lead a church one day. I believe He’s called me to be a missionary in Portugal, specifically the city of Porto (Oporto). While I was there on a short term mission trip, God impressed heavily on my heart that He wants me back there, and He constantly continues to do so. I don’t know when or for how long, and I think it may involve work with the homeless there and a church plant we met. He’s up to big things over there! It’s been prophesied over me that I’ll lead worship someday and God will use my music. And also a calling to minister to men, to young men, and to young men about purity. I don’t know if that’s one thing, as if each was building on the last, or separate things or what. And I think there might be a few other things too which I’ve forgotten too haha.
In my first few years of being a Christian, God revealed a lot of these things to me. I wouldn’t have even considered them otherwise, especially worship leading, I’m terrible at singing haha! And they really did propel me forwards in my passion for Him. But recently He’s just been building on them, especially with preaching, leading a church and Portugal, and teaching me more about that, rather than revealing anything new. How did I know? Well, mostly it was through prophecy, but also through heavily impressing those desires on my heart, equipping me with the spiritual gifts I need for them, opening up opportunities in those areas, equipping me by teaching me in those areas, through conversations and interactions with others, and by some of them already happening or starting to happen.
I think, though, it’s important to not get caught up wanting to know the specifics of God’s plan for you. It’s good for you to desire to know and be open to it, and I encourage you to ask Him and desire for Him to tell you. But I’ve seen many people get frustrated with God, or angry with Him, or even walk away from Him for a while because He hasn’t told them. God always provides our needs (Romans 8:32, Matthew 6:25-33), so if He doesn’t reveal it to you then you don’t need to know it. Either because you’re going on that path already, or He will steer you there another way, or now isn’t the right time, or for some other reason. So I wouldn’t worry if you don’t know, you don’t need to. I remember one of my friends once telling me how she wanted God to reveal His calling for her but hadn’t. A few years later she felt called to be a missionary in China! She told her parents, well actually I think her sister told them, and they said, “Wait! Didn’t someone prophecy at her baptism that God would use her in China?” I think she said that her parents didn’t tell her because they wanted her to find out for herself, so it would confirm it, rather than it being a self-fulfilling prophecy (Psychological/Sociological term. Eg, if I was labeled a thief when I wasn’t, but starting stealing because I had been labeled that and believed it, causing it to be true).
In any case, we must always remember that our calling is already revealed in scripture. People wait for a ‘burning bush’ moment, but the Bible is our burning bush. His empty tomb is our burning bush. We are called to ‘go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.’ (Matthew 28:19-20). To love God, to love each other, to preach the Gospel, to serve others, to lay down our lives, to heal the sick, to consider the interests of others greater than our own, etc. Your primary purpose is to be Christlike. And the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Focus on doing that.
I went to an excellent seminar about exactly this at Newday 2011. I wish I could type everything they said, it’s so good, but I’ve typed so much already! I strongly recommend you listen to it, which you can listen to here:
http://newdaygeneration.org/resources/resource/jesus_my_calling
Also, these some amazing sermons by Steve Chong on this topic…
The Great Commission:
http://newdaygeneration.org/resources/resource/some_task_to_live_for
Living for Christ and Christ alone:
http://newdaygeneration.org/resources/resource/someone_to_live_for
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What are five of your favourite Bible verses?
Oh wow, what a question!
Does Genesis 1:1 - Revelation 22:21 count?
I couldn’t bring it down to five favourites if I tried, so here’s five that have inspired me, helped me, or meant the most to me on my walk.
John 14:12-14
“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”
This was the first time a verse ever really struck me above any others, in my first or second year. Earlier on I had just read Jesus ‘owning’ the pharisees, as I would have said. I was too naive of my own arrogance to think that anything He said applied to me, but I couldn’t help but pray, “Jesus, man, you’re awesome! The way you speak, if you could be prime minister, that’d be awesome! If only you were here today!” And then I came to the verse in John 14 and felt Him say, “If only I was here? That’s why you’re here, to do what I would do.” That was the first time I’d felt Him speak to me like that. I kept on staring at it. I could do greater works than Jesus? That’s amazing! Look what He did! What could be greater? What does that mean? What could I do? It was the first time I had ever opened up my eyes to the fact that the Christian life is a revolutionary life. That there was so much more! That sparked my fire to really live my life for Him and chase after bigger things, and not settle for mediocre Christianity. I was obsessed with it for the rest of the year and wrote that verse on everything. Of course, I do get lazy, but it made me see the need to run.
Proverbs 2:1-5
“My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.”
This is what inspired me to want to learn deeper about God and understand wisdom. My Youth Bible I used at the time said, “and you will find that you know God.” I had only just begun to know Him, and this made me want to know Him so much more.
Romans 10:13-15
“For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!’”
One thought stopped me and ran through my mind after I read this. “I’ve got to evangelise.” It just gave me determination that this is what I’ve got to do.
Philippians 2:3-4
“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”
This opened my eyes to what a the heart of God’s child should look like.
Psalm 115:3
”Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases”
This is the verse which convinced me of God’s sovereignty. At first I read it as “God does whatever He pleases, meaning that He won’t be swayed by any other opinion. He will only do what He wants.” And it does mean that. But then I read it again. “God does whatever He pleases. Whatever pleases Him to do, He does. What He wants, He does, He accomplishes. What pleases Him is His will. He accomplishes His will.” And then I realised that His will will always happen. He is in complete control of everything. If He didn’t want something to happen, He would stop it. If He wanted to allow it, He’d allow it. Everything that happens is in His will. He willed it to be so. He is not bound by anything, and He is victorious in all that He does, in everything. He has His way. This changed the way I see God and the way I see everything completely. Honestly, nothing has been the same since.
John 6:16-21
“When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. But he said to them, ‘It is I; do not be afraid.’ Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.”
I read this the other day. He taught me through it that I should expect the unexpected from Him. And that, even though we were on an ocean of sin, He walked over it to be with us. But, there was something else about that story which tickled me. It was Him. It was just such a typical Jesus thing to do. He could have got another boat, or met them on the other side; but nope, He walked on water! It’s so typical of the Jesus I know - from my life and from scripture. And then I realised, I really do know Him. I know Him! That was one of the most joyous moments of my life!
Okay, that’s six haha. Thank you so much for the question, for making me look back at where He started me, and where He’s brought me to. Thank you so much!
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How do you know when the Holy Spirit is working in your heart? Would He ever make you feel guilty?
A tree is known by the fruit it produces. If He is working in your heart, you’ll see signs, traces and evidence of His working. Such as the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), the gifts of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:7-11), sanctification (2 Thessalonians 2:13), guidance in truth (John 16:13), power and love and self-control (2 Timothy 1:7), He convicts the world of sin and righteousness and judgement (John 16:8), He enables us to confess that Jesus is Lord (1 Corinthians 12:2), He renews and regenerates us giving us rebirth (Titus 3:5, John 3:5-6), He bears witness that we are children of God (Romans 8:16), He intercedes for us (Romans 8:26-27), He enables us to cry ‘Abba! Father!’ (Romans 8:15), He always glorifies and confesses Christ (John 16:14, 1 John 4:2), and He always bears witness to Christ and points us to Christ (John 15:26).
The Holy Spirit will never make a child of God feel guilty, He won’t ever make you feel like you’re something you’re not. The Spirit bears witness that you are a child of God and a fellow heir with Christ (Romans 8:15-17). You are justified by faith and His grace alone! Which means that you are not guilty! You are no longer declared guilty of your sin! Titus 3:4-7 says, “But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”
He will show and reveal to us the areas of our lives which need to be dealt with, and show us where improvement is needed. Part of our sanctification, self control, and being conformed to the image of Christ is that we have a growing hatred for sin and a growing love for what is good, honourable and holy (Romans 12:9). Also, a part of that is knowing what is good and what is evil, knowing His commandments and knowing His will. The Spirit will teach and instruct you, and He will increase your hatred of sin and love of good. He’s like an indwelling ‘Holiness Coach’, training you in righteousness and purity. Andrew Wilson describes what He does as a co-pilot, directing you where to go and how to steer. Furthermore, it is impossible to do good without the Holy Spirit. Unless we are born of Spirit, we are slaves to sin and can do nothing but sin (Romans 6). These are some quotes from Andrew Wilson’s book ‘Godstories’…
“I cannot count the number of people I know who have become Christians and then, without ever being told what to do, have stopped doing drugs and swearing and getting drunk and sleeping around - not by straining or being threatened, but by walking in the Spirit. That’s because God gives us new DNA, a new heart and a new spirit, not a new rule book or a new method. It’s because He makes us want different things, not just strive for them; He gives us new desires, not just new disciplines. Ezekiel, who lived six centuries before the Holy Spirit came to live in people like this, would have loved to be where you are today. He would have relished the chance to be given a new spirit, like you have, and he would have daydreamed of what might happen if the whole of Israel was given one. No more idolatry, no more abominations, no more prophecies of judgement, just a glorious Godstory of new creation, delighted obedience, and a new spirit.”
“Secondly, as we see in Jeremiah and Ezekiel, He is the Spirit of purity. There’s a good reason He gets referred to as the ‘Holy’ Spirit - He is the way unholy and impure people like us get to be like holy and pure people like God. Galatians 5 is pretty blunt about this: If we walk in the Spirit, we will keep free from sin, because we have our very own live-in life coach showing us how to please God. Prophets with a passion for holiness, like Jeremiah and Ezekiel, were on the edge of their seats about the Spirit of purity coming to God’s people.”
Also, don’t let guilt quench your passion for Jesus. The accuser, the devil, can accuse you of your sin in an attempt to make you feel unqualified to enter into God’s presence. But all lies and only lies flow from his tongue. Jesus has justified you and qualified you and made you inseparable from Him! Romans 8:33 says, “Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.” Read Romans 8:33-39. You are His beloved son, in whom He is well pleased! The Spirit bears witness to this!
And lastly, who said witnessing isn’t fun! Speaking about the Good News should overflow our hearts with joy! If it doesn’t, ask God to give you a joy that overflows into witnessing.
‘What is the role of the Holy Spirit’ by Mike Pilavachi:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOnX5iqPR-I
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How do you stay close to Jesus? Do you ever feel like your worship is meaningless? Do you ever feel like He says ‘Don’t come to me like you didn’t sin’?
I stay close to Him because He has reconciled me with Him, joined me as one spirit with Him, and He lives within me. We can feel like we are far from Him, but the reality is that He is closer than our skin. I think that’s such an important thing to always remember.
But I know what you meant, as in intimacy. Well, don’t judge a person by their blog haha. I haven’t read my Bible in my personal devotion for weeks because I’ve been so busy, and I’m often appalled by my lack of effort for intimacy with Him. So yes, I do feel far from Him at times. Something God’s been teaching me is that the reason why we feel so intimate with God at conferences, and less so at home, is due to the amount we spiritually feed ourselves. At conferences, we’re bombarded with scripture, worship music and surrounded with our brothers and sisters to edify us. At home, we have to cook the meal ourselves, so to speak. It’s up to us to read our Bibles, to put on worship music, to get together with other Christians. We reap what we sow.
But no matter how far we feel from Him, He is totally besotted with us.
I do sometimes feel like my worship is meaningless. Worship is meaningless when we don’t mean what we say, or we do it when we really don’t want to. That’s just performance. It’s a common belief among Christians that we’re not supposed to ‘get anything’ out of worship. But actually, it should bring us joy and reverence for God! We should get much out of worship! We should worship because we want to worship, and we want to because He is worthy and we enjoy Him, and thus worship should bring us enjoyment. If I spend time with a friend because I want to and I enjoy their company, then that is lifting them up and honouring them. But if I do it because I should when I don’t want to or don’t enjoy it, then that isn’t honouring them or their worth, but lifting myself up in my own self-righteousness as a ‘good friend’.
But, that’s a side point. If we feel like our worship is meaningless, because we feel like it’s empty and feel like He deserves more, then that isn’t meaningless worship because we are declaring that He is worthy of so much more. By doing so we are acknowledging our sin and His holiness and acknowledging “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” (Matthew 5:6). It is those who have no care, who aren’t even bothered or at least disturbed in the slightest, who worship meaninglessly.
Worship is simply this: declaring God’s worth.
I do sometimes feel like I can’t approach Him because of my sin. But I know that that is a lie from the accuser, the devil. The truth is the complete opposite. God says, “For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” (Hebrews 8:12). He will not hold our sin against us, ever! It’s gone, we’re clean, we’re righteous! We are justified in His sight and declared ‘not guilty’! We have full rights to come to Him, and He will always accept us and never turn us away. He will never say ‘don’t come at me like nothing happened’, but in fact He says ‘do come at me like nothing happened’!
“This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.” (Ephesians 3:11-12)
“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16)
“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus,” (Hebrews 10:19)
“For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.” (Ephesians 2:18)
That’s not to say we shouldn’t talk about our sin with Him, deal with it in prayer, and confess it to Him. We should! But we should approach Him with full confidence in His forgiveness, being holy and blameless in His sight, and that we are redeemed by His death and resurrection. As a child approaches his Father.
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If you saw an attractive girl at a university visit, would you introduce yourself before going to uni or wait until you’re there?
Out of the two options, it depends if you just saw them or properly met them. If you just saw them, then waiting would be better. I would feel like a stalker being like “Hi, I saw you, you’re beautiful.” Even if you didn’t say that, that’s what it could imply. If you met them, then there’s no harm in finding a way to keep in touch.
But I think there’s a deeper issue here. According to Thomas Cranmer, “What the heart loves, the will chooses, and the mind justifies.” Your mind is captive to your will, and your will is captive to your heart. I’m guessing that the reason you would want to introduce yourself to them is because you want a relationship with them. But the reason you want a relationship with them is because they’re physically attractive, because that’s all you know about them. That’s lust. The reason I quoted Thomas Cranmer is because in this situation, your heart lusts their beauty, so your will wants you to be in a relationship with them, so your mind justifies that they are worth introducing yourself to. But in fact, by wanting to get to know them, you are wanting to find proof for what you already believe is true - that you should be in a relationship with them, which is based on lust. So the whole basis of that desire, or if the desire is fulfilled, that relationship, is lust; which firstly is a sin, and secondly is a dangerous and unhealthy basis for a relationship.
“Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.”
(Proverbs 31:30)
“Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear—but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.”
(1 Peter 3:3-4)
The whole point of a relationship is marriage, which means that we should look for a wife or husband rather than a girlfriend or boyfriend. If we are to do that, we should be very careful in who we date and what we look for in a person, because marriage really is ‘until death do us part’. Do you work well with that person? Do you agree theologically, spiritually? Can you joyfully serve that person? And so on.
Also, I wouldn’t want a girl to introduce herself to me just because she thought I was physically attractive. Because I might not know that the reason she did is lust, so I would be unknowingly building on weak foundations.
Is beauty important?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlfsBusLEEg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GRfZYguN3qk
These three talk about why it’s important to agree theologically with your spouse:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ArIv2PguRA&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rl8U4G4Tp3M&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orNscUg8tPg&feature=related
These two by Paul Washer are ones I’d very strongly recommend watching and taking tones on, getting right to the heart of it as well as asking ‘are you reallyready to date?’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZUtm1cHhwk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2MMwywGV54
These two by Matt Chandler talk about what our attitude towards dating should be:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcZBBmwmezk&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BiiKx3Lr_o&feature=related
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Does God still send signs (like in the Old Testament)? Do we need them since we now have full access to Him?
Yes, I do. Very much so!
I am a Charismatic, so I believe that the miraculous gifts of the Spirit are still in continuation. Here are my reasons for believing in Charismatic theology:
http://onfireforgod.tumblr.com/charismatic-arguement
1 Corinthians 14:22 says that prophecy is primarily sign for believers, but also has the secondary benefit that Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 14:24-25 - “But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you.” Healing, miracles, words of knowledge, discerning spirits; all of these are signs that God uses. The book of Acts is full of signs! They had access to His throne just like we do, yet God still performed the miraculous then. What happened in Acts is not a time been and gone, those things still fully continue today. I see no reason why they could of ceased. And I have seen many miraculous signs and wonders with my own eyes!
The power the Spirit gives to believers is to demonstrate the that they are sent by God, to be witnesses. Signs confirm the message (Mark 16:20), miracles point to the God of miracles, they’re for the common good (1 Corinthians 12:7), for the strengthening of the Church (1 Corinthians 14:26), and for the full proclamation of the Gospel and Kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 4:20, 1 Corinthians 2:4-5, Romans 15:18-20). We are just as much in need of those things as they were then.
Also, we are still in the age that Joel 2:28-29 talks about:
”And it shall come to pass afterward,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions.
Even on the male and female servants
in those days I will pour out my Spirit.”
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Do you ever feel like you’re wasting time, doing ‘fun stuff’ when you could be witnessing instead?
I definitely do feel like I’m wasting time, often in fact. I spend so much time on temporary earthly ‘stuff’ when I could be sowing eternal seeds! I wrote a blog post about it not too long ago:
http://onfireforgod.tumblr.com/post/14738529598/life-re-evaluation-change-me-compassion-do
“For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw—each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.”
(1 Corinthians 3:11-15)
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
(Matthew 6:19-21)
“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”
(1 Corinthians 15:58)
“But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.”
(Philippians 3:7-8)
Where do you lay up your treasures? Any treasure we lay up on earth will rot. Anything that we don’t invest in eternal things is temporary. Anything not done for Christ will be burnt up. Any work not done in Christ is in vain. And all things are loss compared to knowing Christ. But the treasure we lay up in Heaven is eternal. That which we invest in eternity is eternal. Anything done for Christ will be rewarded. Our work done for Christ is not in vain. And knowing Christ is our inheritance.
Spending time with friends, watching a movie and going round town isn’t a waste of time in itself. It’s how you live in those situations which determines that. Do you compromise the time you spend with God to watch movies, or do you compromise your movie time so you can spend time with God?
We should always be witnessing to people. A guy at Soul Survivor this year (I forgot his name. He’s been knighted. I’ll update this when I remember) said, “The full Gospel is to be proclaimed in words, in works, and in wonders.” The best sermon you’ll ever preach is your life. Your life declares how worthy God is to you.
Don’t feel that you should always be speaking to witness; but the way you live, what you watch, what you do, what you invest your life into, all witnesses about Jesus. If we act Christlike, people see Christ. If you go to a party and all your mates start getting drunk, and you choose not to, then you’re showing them that your joy and delight is in Christ and in being obedient to Him. If your friends want you to get drunk and you don’t, you’re showing them that Jesus is better. If you turn down an invite because you need to spend time with God, you show them who your King is. The jokes you tell, the language you use, your attitude towards those who offend you, your attitude those in need, how you spend your time, how you live your life, will all tell them who has your heart, who your God is. It shows them that your delight is in the law of the Lord and He fully satisfies you.
However, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t witness with our words. Stef Liston said that people complain far too often that they don’t have enough opportunities to speak about their faith, when actually every living second is an opportunity. We are commanded to speak about Him, ’always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you’ (1 Peter 3:15). Our delight should be in telling people about the amazing Good News of Jesus Christ!
Evangelise as much as you can with your words, and evangelise as much as you can with your life. Live like you really mean what you say.
I think the key verse here is 1 Corinthians 10:31…
“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
Live for eternal things.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LA_uwWPE6lQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86dsfBbZfWs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VC9PlvKwz4I
(PS, thank you for this question. As I typed this to you, I was typing it to myself too. So thank you for reminding me of all this.)
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I keep falling into the same sin over and over again and I feel like a failure.
Rest in Him. Take time to spend a long while just talking to Him, reading His word and soaking in prayer. Just look to His face full of grace and love and glory. And keep on doing this as much as you can. I won’t promise it will stop you falling into that same sin. But what it will do is shift your perspective onto a greater focus on God, His mercy in our weakness and His grace to ever change us.
Know that you are free, and sin has no dominion over you. You are not a slave to sin who has no option - but that’s all sin is now, an option. You are free to choose holiness, you will not be tempted more than you can handle, and sin does not rule over you.
Seek God as your highest pleasure. After a huge Christmas dinner, any other food can seem disgusting. Let God be your turkey and be stuffed with Him. In the long run, and in moments of temptation. When in temptation, think of His love for you. What greater joy is there than to know that God loves you? No sin’s empty promise could ever match His outrageous love. Seeking, savouring, being satisfied in, delighting in, and trusting in the supremacy of Christ leads to freedom from sin and freedom of holy living. As 2 Corinthians 3:18 says, “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” And as John Piper says, when you see the magnitude of your treasure [God], your soul swells to get around it. And you mock [sin] as a powerless thrill. You don’t win by saying ‘no!’. If you see and savour Him, you will be progressively freed. Seeing Him makes sin look like the insane ugly monster it is and holiness as the beautiful freedom and delightful satisfaction that it is. It makes us realise how stupid we are to think that short skirts and lots of money is where it’s at, when eternal and ever increasing satisfaction and joy is freely given to us in Christ.
Just watch this!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHB0xPe0cLg&feature=related
I’m sorry, I don’t know any specific method or way to put an end to repetitive sins in our lives. I wish I did. But know this: you are not a failure in God. You are who you are in God’s eyes! If it was up to us, heck yes we would be total failures. But thanks be to God who saved us, because who we are isn’t dependent our victory but His! You stand before God as if it was you who lived Christ’s perfect life.
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How should a Christian man act towards his future wife?
Honour her.
I do think there’s a lot of ‘faith’ in ‘God’s timing’ going around, which seems more like faith in our own planning of our destiny to me. I think the first thing we should do is not expect a spouse. I don’t mean that in the sense of expecting not to have a spouse, but to just not expect. For two reasons, A) because that might not be what God has planned for us, and B) because I believe it would restore the belief that marriage is a gift from God and not a right, which would then increase our gratitude and joy in our wife as the gift and in God as the giver. In fact, with most things, we take them as rights believing we deserve them and get disappointed when we don’t receive them, and curse God for it. But if we believe that, as far as rights go, we shouldn’t be alive right now and that everything is a gift, then we have joy and praise God. It may seem silly to some, but my friends have often found me sat in a chair poking the skin on my hand saying, “Woah. I have skin. This is amazing.” I’m not saying this to boast, because most of the time I’m terribly ungrateful; but when God reveals the delights in simple things like that to me, it really does bring joy and praise. If you say, “Why doesn’t God reveal that to me?” then you’re still expecting it as a right for Him to do so. Just ask Him, He loves to give.
I’m going off track. Okay. Christian man. Future wife. Don’t expect her, but think of her as a gift.
John 3:27
“John answered, ‘A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven.’”
You’re not supposed to mope around pretending you don’t ‘need/want a wife right now’ when in fact you’re looking in every inch of space for her. If you really don’t want a wife, that’s cool. Paul didn’t get married. And if singleness suits the calling God has given you best, like Mike Pilavachi, then go for singleness. But don’t treat God like voodoo, that as soon as you’re content, He’ll bring you a spouse. Being content without something in order to obtain it is a paradox. And it’s unbiblical. God designed us for marriage, and it’s perfectly good to want a wife and look for her. That doesn’t rob God of the role of ‘finding them for you’, which is a popular role for Him by most girls on Tumblr, because God is sovereign and guides your steps.
I think it’s good to think about what you would want in a wife and what you would want her to be like. Things such as in 1 Timothy 3:11. If you want to be a deacon, you’ve got to have a wife like 1 Timothy 3:11. By ‘what you would want her to be like’, I mean practical wisdom in what you want: do you want a wife who edifies you, or a wife who makes you stumble in your faith? This is so that you can be wise in deciding whether to marry someone or not. Simples. But I do not think it is healthy at all to make up some fantasy wife. We’re human, and we do dream of things. But when we start creating this wife in our heads, we’re unable to enjoy the wife God gives us. And if you don’t enjoy your wife, you don’t honour her and you won’t want to serve her. That’s why I’ve never done this ‘Dear future wife’ which seems popular on Tumblr; though it can be fun, it can also be dangerous. Those ‘expectation vs reality’ pictures do have some wisdom to them.
As I’ve learnt in psychology, your past and present relationships create expectations and standards of future relationship. If those future relationships don’t match up to that, you’re much more likely to be dissatisfied. They could be subconscious or conscious. And it’s often to do with directly comparing a relationship to past ones: if it’s less profitable and more costly than a past relationship, you’re likely to leave that person because you believe that ‘you could do better’ or you deserve more. That is an unhealthy and self-centred basis of a relationship. This is part of the ‘internal working model’, which is how you view the world on the basis of past experiences. Bowlby, a developmental psychologist, introduced this model to show how the parent-child bond affects later life, but it applies here too. So consider this when you date someone. And there’s a reason why getting around a lot isn’t encouraged. And don’t mess around with other guys’ future wives either.
Also, one of my friends who is married once said that all the images of girls he’s messed around with sexually in the past are still in his mind and he hates it, because the only girl he wants is an image of in his mind is his wife. Honour your wife by letting her be the only image.
So, we should honour her. This means desiring for her to be the first person we have sex with, having her as the first person we have sex with, not seeking a wife out of loneliness or greed, or lust, to make ourselves Godly men, not setting unrealistic and unnecessary standards, desiring to serve her, praying for her and about her, not expecting her, taking care in your relationships with others before her, making ourselves the best husband we could be for her, consider that even if she’s ‘right’ for you that you might not be ‘right’ for her, and choose her wisely and seriously in consideration of what marriage actually means.
But, I am just 18 years old and I’m not married. I don’t have the gift of hindsight, or in experiencing marriage haha. What I’ve said is what I’ve heard from wise men and women who are married, or at least inspired by them or by what they’ve taught.
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Are you a Catholic?
I wasn’t really in the first place, I was just going to a Catholic church to be honest. I wasn’t a Christian either. But even though I was neither, I did think that Catholicism was how Christianity is.
Until I learnt the difference between Catholicism and Protestantism, for about a year or so after God saved me I did identify myself as ‘technically a Catholic’ because I was christened in a Catholic church. I also didn’t take communion for ages because I was so used to the Catholic idea that you mustn’t take communion unless you’ve gone to ‘confession’ first. I don’t know if that is what Catholics believe, but I thought that’s how it worked. Then I understood that it was a Biblical instruction to take communion for all believers, and that I am right with God through His death and resurrection, and that I don’t need to go to ‘confession’ first.
I’m not a Catholic, no. My beliefs fall into line with the Protestant Reformation and Calvinism :)
Big up mah home bois Martin Luthaaah and John Calvin! Soli Deo gratia massive n’tingz. Brup! Brup!
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What do you mean ‘God the Father was pleased to crush Jesus, and Jesus willingly died’?
It was the Father’s will to pour out His wrath on His Son instead of us. Justice had to be done for sin, so someone had to pay the price. And Jesus willingly died and was crushed by His Father’s wrath instead of us.
The Father was pleased to crush the Son:
Isaiah 53:4-12
“4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned-every one-to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people?
9 And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.”
Psalm 135:6
“6 Whatever the LORD pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps.”
Jesus willingly gave His life:
John 10:11
“11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
John 10:14-15
“14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.”
John 10:18
“18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”
That’s love!
God bless!
