Promises and Secrets

Promises and SecretsPromises and Secrets

A website for those not afraid to examine their beliefs, compare them to the real world, and make sure they fit.



Character

VIEWPOINT



The foundation for good character is in the Bible, but even with that basis, many follow only part of the foundation and ignore the rest.

FACT



A man of good character is easy to spot, but it is hard to define what makes good character.


BLUE VIEWPOINT



How do you define character?

For the most part, true character was outlined by Jesus in His Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapters 5 through 7. He speaks of who is blessed and what character quality blesses them. Throughout His life, He demonstrated these qualities, and requires us to follow His example in order to demonstrate our willingness to stay in the will of God so we can attain eternal life.

The problem that is becoming very obvious in the concept of Christian churches today is that the character qualities mentioned above are being modified to match the "peace, love, happiness" concepts of today's mealy-mouthed "Christianity". As was shown on the page on this site called Christians - Real Ones under the Menu Page heading Christianity, we have examples demonstrating that even Jesus did not fit the mold described by this modernized group.

We used some of the suggested list of one site with "49 Godly character qualities", and showed instances (with Biblical references) how Jesus violated many of these qualities - even while with the Apostles. The list shows how the modern church has limited the true Godly qualities to ones that they recognize and provide in a list that matches their wishes. The reason is simple - few "Christians" want to recognize that Jesus' character has two sides, and even when they do, they only want to accept one of them.

Two sides?

Yep. Of course, He is the loving God of the universe, loving humans enough to sacrifice and abandon His glory by becoming flesh and blood, suffering, and dying to give us a chance at redemption. That is the side Christians want to recognize, but they forget about His other half. That half of Him is Judge of the world, requires obedience, schedules vengeance, hates sin, punishes evil, separates the sheep and the goats, and the One who will make the final disposition of every soul that has been or ever will be.

That God is the One who spoke to the Israelites in the desert and scared them so badly that they asked Moses to talk to Him so they wouldn't die. That is the God that told Moses that he would not enter the promised land because he struck the rock instead of speaking to it, among other things ("Must we bring you water out of this rock?" (Numbers 20:10
10He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, "Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?"

)). That is the God that "Christians" today will not see because they feel they don't need Him - and for certain they do not want to be responsible to Him.

This fact makes their actions fickle and worthless because they seem to feel that they can disobey the half of God they don't like, but still think that they are in His good graces. When something good happens to them, they claim it is the answer to prayer, even if that answer violates His own clearly stated principles. Some actually even pray for results that may oppose the evident will of God for the person for which they are praying.

God means everything He has said

Maybe this sounds too harsh to you, but explain how you can get around that fact. Your character is everything about you, not just the good parts. Do you think that the character of God is completely different from that of the humans he made "in His own image"? How would we feel if our child blatantly disobeyed our commands in the same way we disobey those of God?

Which of His commands do you think we can ignore and still feel like we can ask Him for blessings? Exodus 20 - the first commandment, the fourth, the seventh? Leviticus 18? Leviticus 11? These are all Old Testament references given "only to the Israelites", but somehow seem to affect us Gentiles every single day.

Or do you feel that if we "love Jesus", He will give us what He will not give to the Jews for doing the same thing that we are doing? What's the difference between us and them? They obey His laws and we don't have to? They don't "love Jesus" and we do? Remember what Paul said about the problem with the Old Testament Jews in Hebrews 4:2:

As stated by the NIV published by Zondervan in 1995:

2 For we also have had the gospel proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not combine it with faith.

Now modified in some versions to read:

2 For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed. (revised NIV from BibleHub online)

The Old plus the New

In either version, the problem was not that the Jews didn't get the message, they just did not add faith to their obedience, as in "they did not share the faith of those who obeyed". They thought that obedience alone would save them. This passage has never meant that obedience is no longer necessary, only that you must add (combine it with) faith. That means combine love with obedience (John 14:15
15If you love me, keep my commands.

, John 14:21
21Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.

). It is our failed attempts at obedience that shows that we really need Jesus. When we (you) stop obeying, we (you) feel that we (you) are home free, and that's when we (you) lose what we (you) have worked for (2 John 1:8
8Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully.

). Of course, it was only the Apostle John who said that, and by our actions, we show that we really feel that it was not someone who mattered.

"But, we love Jesus"

Well, it seems that many love what Jesus can do for them, but don't do what He says (Luke 6:46
46"Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?"

). They ask for forgiveness, then deliberately repeat the same sin. They violate the commands of God, but supposedly stay within the "two commandments" of Jesus.

Oh, that's right, we are now told that Jesus did away with the ten commandments of the Father, but evidently made two easier ones for His own glory. But, when you ask anyone if we can ignore any of the first ten , they say, "Of course not! That's still a - uh, a law - wait, - no, a rule - no, wait - uh, well, we shouldn't do that - except for the Sabbath, we don't have to keep that. We just know 'automagically', in our hearts, what God wants us to do. He doesn't have to tell us what to do, any more, in writing. We just know what we should and should not do."

Oh, that's right, too. God wrote the laws into our hearts, so we don't have to follow them - er, they are no longer cast in stone, er, they don't mean the same thing as before. So, when we ask for "forgiveness" for a sin against God's commands that we voluntarily repeat, aren't we then really asking for permission to repeatedly sin against God, but not against Jesus? ??? When did they become different from each other?

What do others say about character?

Well, as you can see on the page called Galatians: The Law is Gone? and the subpage Responses to the Law discussion in the center menu on the Galatians page, some pastors teach their flocks that when you become a Christian, you cannot sin. Note that it wasn't will not sin, but cannot sin. One pastor's reasoning is that, since you are "no longer under the law", you can't sin even if you try. His definition of the state of law for Christians is that all rules God put on behavior no longer apply to any Christian. When asked what happens if a Christian does happen to break one of the rules, he replied that in that case, the person was never a real Christian and therefore not saved in the first place.

Can you see it? This makes the pastor right (in his own understanding) because he has set up his own tautology (an argument that is right because it says it is). "As a Christian, you cannot sin because if you do, you weren't a Christian." So, if you are a Christian, you supposedly have perfect character. If you happen to break a rule that you feel no longer matters, it's not really sin because you don't have to follow the rules that aren't there anymore, unless you are a Jew or a bad person, then the law applies to you... For those of you who fit that description, congratulations. Most of us belong to a totally different breed of humans, the ones that Christ came to save from ourselves if we accept His gift, straighen up and at least try to fly right.

Books on character

A Google search for books on character on January 3, 2019 resulted in 1.75 billion hits, supposedly all sources for books or information by authors explaining how to attain a good character. Some of them are paraphrases of events in the Bible. One called The Action Bible is described as:

The Action Bible presents 215 fast-paced narratives in chronological order, making it easier to follow the Bible's historical flow and reinforcing the build-up to its thrilling climax.

Not having read their recap, we can only guess at their version of the "thrilling climax" of the Bible, and wonder about how it helps to find the right path to good character that is evidently not explained well enough in the regular Bible. Other offerings include The Road to Character by David Brooks and Creating Magic by Lee Cockerell, an employee at Disney.

Wait, there's one!

While somewhat curious about the items on this list of guides containing promises to show the way to building a good character, the one that was most intriguing was The Quest for Character by John MacArthur. If you have read other pages on this site, you may know that Mr. MacArthur also wrote a book called The Power of Integrity which was a very well-written book, full of truths and Biblical spirit, with an accurate description of what integrity looks like in people who have it. However, the conclusion we reached is that his own life and that of his church seem to have missed the definition of integrity described in his own book. Because of this, it seemed only reasonable to take a closer look at this new book (well, new from 2006) on finding and developing character.

As usual, his words are right on target, but...

He starts with the excellent example of the beatitudes (Matthew chapters 5 - 7). On page 37 he even describes the importance of confessing our sins everyday and receiving His forgiveness. However, wouldn't that confessing come with a requirement to at least attempt to try not to repeat the same sins requiring confession? What does it say about the character of a person who does what God says not to do, doesn't confess it, and continues on as though he is still in the will of God? What does God say not to do that Mr. MacArthur continues to do? Christmas, Easter, not keeping the Sabbath...

Why would he say that?

Of course, he claims that the rules against these "holidays", and for the keeping of the Sabbath, as well as most of the laws from the Old Testament, no longer apply to Christians. But, how does he explain that belief? Going to his organization's web site at Grace To You, he uses Romans 14:5-6
5 One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. 6 Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God.

. When the average "Christian" reads this, they agree that it means they don't have to keep the Sabbath and they can celebrate any day (Christmas, Easter) the way they want, as long as they are worshiping the Lord. Sounds reasonable, right?

But, then you back up to verse 1
14 Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters.

in the same chapter, and find out that we are talking about opinions (disputable matters), not situations where the Word is clear. For those clearly defined matters like the Ten Commandments, we have MacArthur's own words for what we should do:

When God established the nation Israel, He built into the Israelite's daily living the principle of separation from the world. Their religious observances throughout the year served as safeguards to prevent them, as a unique people (Deut. 14:2
2 for you are a people holy to the Lord your God. Out of all the peoples on the face of the earth, the Lord has chosen you to be his treasured possession.

), from intermingling with pagans.

Likewise, God calls all His people to be separate from the world (1 Pet. 2:9
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

). Whenever we are tempted to compromise, we need only remind ourselves that God never compromises His absolute truths and principles for expediency. He always lives according to His Word. Psalm 138:2
2 I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name. (KJV)

says, "Thou hast magnified Thy word according to all Thy name." God is committed to His Word, and as His children, we are to be also.

                 - excerpt from The Power of Integrity, by John Macarthur, page ix

"We should do what He says, just not everything He says - we'll let you know which to do..."

But wait, if God doesn't compromise on his absolute word to us, tells us not to do something, and Mr. MacArthur writes to us, "God is committed to His Word, and as His children, we are to be also.", that's what we should do, right? But, then he and his church go on to do what God said not to do. So, when both the pastor and his congregation are committed to only the part of God's word that they like, and ignore the rest even when they are told by the same pastor that we should be committed to all of it, how does that reflect on character - both his and his hearers?

"Keep this one, ignore that one, keep the next one, decide for yourself on the next one..."

When God says don't worship Him in the way of the pagans (Deuteronomy 12:3-4,30-31
3 Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and burn their Asherah poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from those places. 4 You must not worship the LORD your God in their way. (Deut 12:3-4)

30 and after they have been destroyed before you, be careful not to be ensnared by inquiring about their gods, saying, "How do these nations serve their gods? We will do the same." 31 You must not worship the Lord your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the Lord hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods. (Deuteronomy 12:30-31)

, Deuteronomy 18:9
9 When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there.

and Jeremiah 10:2
2 This is what the LORD says: "Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by signs in the heavens, though the nations are terrified by them.

), then we celebrate the pagan holidays of Christmas and Easter, how committed are we to His word? When God made the Sabbath Holy from the beginning of the world long before the Israelites came along (Genesis 2:1-3
1Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. 2By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

), and we ignore it by substituting our own day that was not made Holy, how committed are we to His word?

So, that cancels the others...?

However, typical of those who preach only selective portions of God's word, by celebrating our "Christian" holidays of Christmas and Easter, we are celebrating the way the pagans do (see Holidays and submenus for more on this). We even use all of their symbols that have nothing to do with Christ. But, God specifically forbids that very thing in the Deuteronomy and Jeremiah links in the previous paragraph.

The Bible never tells us to celebrate Resurrection day as such, but we are told to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread for those seven days including Passover. Also, we are not even trying to celebrate Resurrection Day (we even call it by the pagan name Easter) when God said it actually happened. That would be the first Sunday after Passover. (Leviticus 23 outlines the feasts that are important to God. Those feasts point to the time of Christ - both the first time and the second coming.) Celebrating something God did not command us to do is not wrong unless we replace something He did tell us to do with our own choice.

Good character contradicts the Bible?

Now, if you look closely, you will see that Grace To You uses Romans 14:5-6
5 One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. 6 Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God.

to justify disobeying multiple other commands from God (Deuteronomy 12:3-4,30-31,
3 Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and burn their Asherah poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from those places. 4 You must not worship the LORD your God in their way. (Deuteronomy 12:3-4)

30 and after they have been destroyed before you, be careful not to be ensnared by inquiring about their gods, saying, "How do these nations serve their gods? We will do the same." 31 You must not worship the Lord your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the Lord hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods. (Deuteronomy 12:30-31)

Deuteronomy 18:9
9 When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there.

and Jeremiah 10:2
2 This is what the LORD says: "Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by signs in the heavens, though the nations are terrified by them.

), claiming that God no longer cares if we worship Him the way the pagans do (Christmas, Easter (come on... trees, Santa, eggs and bunnies?), or eat things He considers detestable and defiling (Leviticus 11). Of course, if he is correct, then disobeying God is a mark of good character. However, if God's warnings still stand, then how do we take that refusal to obey? Do we stand for God, or change His words and stand on "our own understanding" (Deuteronomy 12:7-9
7There, in the presence of the Lord your God, you and your families shall eat and shall rejoice in everything you have put your hand to, because the Lord your God has blessed you.

8You are not to do as we do here today, everyone doing as they see fit,9since you have not yet reached the resting place and the inheritance the Lord your God is giving you.

), as in "doing as [we] see fit"? Of course, if we can just convince those listening, we can call that good character. We just have to remember that God will have the final decision about our character, not our pastors.

OK, I kind of get it

Understanding the intent of the Grace To You stand, God did only give the commands to the Israelites, and that was in the Old Testament. But to use that defense you must also say the He only gave Leviticus 18, Leviticus 11, the Sabbath, and the Ten Commandments to the Israelites as well. So, I guess we can just blow those off and just shoot the Jews since they are just taking up space that the Palestinians want, anyway. Oops, that would be breaking one of those commandments that we don't want to have to follow (but we can't find a way out of them). Where does it end? I know - we can ask pastor John. He is educated, so he would never steer us wrong, right?

But, didn't you just say...

Look again at the excerpt from MacArthur's book, especially the second paragraph:

When God established the nation Israel, He built into the Israelite's daily living the principle of separation from the world. Their religious observances throughout the year served as safeguards to prevent them, as a unique people (Deut. 14:2
2 for you are a people holy to the Lord your God. Out of all the peoples on the face of the earth, the Lord has chosen you to be his treasured possession.

), from intermingling with pagans.

Likewise, God calls all His people to be separate from the world (1 Pet. 2:9
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

). Whenever we are tempted to compromise, we need only remind ourselves that God never compromises His absolute truths and principles for expediency. He always lives according to His Word. Psalm 138:2
2 I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name. (KJV)

says, "Thou hast magnified Thy word according to all Thy name." God is committed to His Word, and as His children, we are to be also.

                 - excerpt from The Power of Integrity, by John Macarthur, page ix

He quotes from Deuteronomy and the Psalms, both OT books, and says "Likewise, " about how all God's people (that would be us) are supposed to act. He says we should follow as instructed in Deuteronomy, and includes the Psalms in his reasoning, but ignores other direct commandments from those same Bible books.

This is what I mean when I say in many places on this site that the pastors of today use the Old Testament to support their case for a sermon or try to sell a book you "need" to buy, but reject that same Testament when it comes to obedience. What does that say about character?

Who gets to decide?

If we can decide which commands of God we should follow, and which not to follow, what good are any of the commands? Have they become suggestions? Well, it is true that we can decide for ourselves whether to obey, but we must be aware of the consequences of choosing our own way instead of His. But then, most Christians say that God no longer cares if we follow His rules, as long as we love Jesus and each other - you know, the two "New commandments".

But, isn't the first of the "New" commandments to "Love God with all your heart"? How do you do that if you don't do what He says? Even Jesus said "If you love me, keep my commandments." (John 14:15) But we are being taught by the modern churches, "If you love God, break His commandments..." ??? Even Jesus felt that people were stepping out of bounds while claiming to be followers of Him (Luke 6:46
46"Why do you call me, Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say?"

).

Even the translators got it...

About the decision of treating a day sacred or not, the study notes for Romans 14:5 in my NIV say:

14:5 one day more sacred than another. Some feel that this refers primarily to the Sabbath, but it is probably a reference to all the special days of the OT ceremonial law. considers every day alike. All days are to be dedicated to God through holy living and godly service. fully convinced in his own mind. The importance of personal conviction in disputable matters of conduct runs through this passage (see vv. 14, 16, 22-23).

Disputable matters, or definite commands?

Again, if you read the subject matter in Romans 14:1, you see that it refers to disputable matters, not issues that are clearly defined by the Bible. In which category would you put the verses from Deuteronomy 12:3-4,30-31
3Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and burn their Asherah poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from those places. 4You must not worship the LORD your God in their way. (Deut 12:3-4)

30and after they have been destroyed before you, be careful not to be ensnared by inquiring about their gods, saying, "How do these nations serve their gods? We will do the same." 31You must not worship the Lord your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the Lord hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods. (Deut 12:30-31)

, Deuteronomy 18:9
9When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there.

and Jeremiah 10:2
2This is what the LORD says: "Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by signs in the heavens, though the nations are terrified by them.

? Are these disputable?

So, yes, we can decide for ourselves. Many choose to disobey God every day, and then continue as though they were still in His will. But claiming that one verse cancels out several others means that we feel that either God has changed His mind or that we now have the "Christian" power to override His commands and "lean on our own understanding". What was it that Joshua said?

15But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.
                                - Joshua 24:15

Oh, darn! I forgot. Joshua is one of those Israelites, and from the Old Testament at that, so we don't have to choose to serve the Lord. We can just serve Jesus... er - as long as we don't serve the Lord. Uh...?

But, that's not serving the Lord...

On page 38 of his Character book, John MacArthur says the following:

Adam's sin was like a declaration of war against God's right to rule His own creation.

Think about it. Adam had only one command that we know about - "Don't eat from that tree." And, should we dare ask about where Cain and Abel got the idea that they needed to perform sacrifices to the Lord? After all, we are not told how they knew that or whether God said that they were to keep the Holy Sabbath, so they must have made it up, right? Hardly.

It seems like we feel today that, since we have many commandments instead of only one, and He only gave those to those stubborn Israelites, God won't mind if we just pick the ones want to follow.

How many today who feel we can choose which Old Testament verses to follow, or not to follow, would eat from that tree? I mean, Jesus said "Love God", which we do, and "Love your neighbor", which we do, so we can ignore that uncomfortable commandment like we do the fourth one, right? Surely, many feel, that wouldn't be declaring war like Adam did. Woops, wait a minute! God said something about that in Hosea 6:7:

7As at Adam, they have broken the covenant; they were unfaithful to me there.

Or, as in the more colorful MSG version:

7You broke the covenant - just like Adam! You broke faith with me - ungrateful wretches!

Let's see, here. Adam had only one rule. He broke it, so God called that being unfaithful and kicked Him out of his home. Yet, we break many of God's rules and still expect Him to keep us fat, dumb, and happy by giving us everything we ask for, including an eternal home with Him. Yep, even if our actions are not in the will of the Father or even remotely designed to give Him glory. Moses didn't even get to see the promised land because of a little tap on a rock. Huh.

"But, He wasn't talking about us, just the Israelites..."

This may surprise you, but Adam wasn't an Israelite. Now, if God called Israel a prostitute and then compares her to Adam, His basis for comparison is not "only for the Israelites", but to all who break the covenants that we claim mean everything to us. When we voluntarily break God's commands, we are declaring "war against God's right to rule His own creation", as MacArthur said in his book. Claiming that we have no covenants to break with God means that He has given no obligations to us Gentiles. However, claiming that we do have covenants with God means we have to live within the terms of those covenants and obligations.

One of the biggest parts of those covenants is the "Repent and sin no more" part that we take on when we accept the gift of Christ (Mark 1:4
4And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

and Acts 2:38
38Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

, and John 8:11
11"No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you,"Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."

). What kind of character would be evident if the adulterous woman had gone out and done the same sin again? Yet, that is the same character we display when we disobey the word of God, ask forgiveness, and then do it again with no remorse (you never see where she repented). Repeating an earlier thought, that is only asking for permission to sin and still be in the will of God.

Tolerance of evil?

Mr. MacArthur says on page 40 of his Character book:

That means there ultimately can be no real peace for those who despise holiness. " 'There is no peace' says my God, 'for the wicked' " (Isaiah 57:21). Naturally, then, anyone who genuinely loves holiness will spurn the false, worldly "peace" of blithe tolerance for all evil things.

Now, I don't know about you, but when God makes something Holy, I tend to try to regard it as Holy as well. Ask any Christian, and they will tell you the same thing. So, according to John MacArthur, if you don't like Holiness, you are lacking something in your character. So, why don't Christians feel love for the Sabbath? In fact, many "despise" even the mention of the day because they think those who keep it are "legalists". But, if those who love holiness despise the Sabbath, which by God's own words is Holy, what does that say about their character? By their own admission, they "despise holiness". Remember, we are using John MacArthur's own definition here.

But Sunday is my Sabbath

Well, the truth is that God blessed the seventh day and made it Holy, not the first day. If you "keep" Sunday, your sabbath is not The Sabbath, as specified by God to the Israelites in the desert for forty years. So, Sunday is not a Holy day because it was never blessed by God, but for some reason it is kept by most of the "Christian" world. Again, what does this say about the character of many who keep a non-Holy day and despise a Holy day?

Let's define the terms

"What do you mean, the Sabbath is Holy, but Sunday is not?", you ask? Well, this requires some serious scholarship regarding the Bible. Hold on. Don't panic, you can do it. However, you will have to read all the way to the end of the third verse of the second chapter of the Bible. If you want, you can skip even reading the first chapter, if you will take my word for the fact that it just describes the first six days of creation. If you are afraid to open your Bible, here are the first three verses of Genesis, chapter 2:

1Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. 2By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

In order to make sure we are all on the same page, this can be summed up by saying that God made the seventh day Holy. The human race has recognized, for some odd-ball reason, that there are seven days in a repeating time period that we refer to as a "week". There are no astrological, astronomical, or scientific reasons for the world to use seven days as a repeating time frame. The Jews call it a "sabbath", referring to a span of seven days. This is distinct from The Sabbath, referring to the seventh day of the week. The speakers of Spanish call the seven day span a "semana", but it still means seven days in a repeating sequence.

Here is where the scholarly part comes in. God rested on the seventh day. That day has a name that means exactly what God did on that day in the week of creation - "rest". The Hebrew name for that word "rest" is Sabbath. The Spanish call the day "Sabado", which means, oddly enough, Sabbath (go to Wiktionary if you need some outside corroboration).

OK, done with the scholarly part

Now, after resting, God sanctified the seventh day - the Sabbath - and made it Holy. See if you can find a place in the Bible where God blessed Sunday and made it holy. He never even considered the first day of the week important enough to have a name, much less make it holy. To sanctify something is to set it apart as something to be treated as special and recognize it's significance to the One who sanctified it. Sunday-keepers refuse to treat the Sabbath as Holy - even hate being told that God blesses people who keep it (limiting it to just the Gentile part, see Isaiah 56:6-7
6And foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord
        to minister to him,
to love the name of the Lord,
        and to be his servants,
all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it
        and who hold fast to my covenant -

7these I will bring to my holy mountain
        and give them joy in my house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and sacrifices
        will be accepted on my altar;
for my house will be called
        a house of prayer for all nations.

, but the previous verses add more meaning as well).

This is not interpretation, this is reading what the Bible says. Interpreting would be something like, "Yeah, it says that, but it really meant until Jesus came the first time, and since then it doesn't matter any more. No, I can't give you a reference or a reason, but in my heart I know it is true." That's what some call "interpretation", but in scholarly circles this is technically referred to as "hogwash". Open your Bible and point to the passage that says that God blessed the first day of the week and made it Holy - and then told us Gentiles not to keep His Holy day any more. And please, don't try to tell us that "He didn't say not to". Go ahead, I'll wait here.

How far do we have to go?

Even this far, about a third of the way through MacArthur's book, we have found several instances from the author of a "how to" guide making statements that sound great on the surface, but mean nothing if he doesn't even follow his own advice. To repeat my first observation about John MacArthur's book The Quest for Character, his statements are bullseye accurate. The book is a great read, if you follow the content of the statements in the book and not the actions of the man who wrote it. Good character would be shown by quoting the Bible and then doing what it says. By his own definition, his character seems different from that which he describes in the book.

Where does that leave us?

The person of character is fully described in the Bible with clear definitions of what to do and what not to do. Those who read the Bible have no need of an "explanation" book written by someone who usually has an underlying motive. John MacArthur seems to genuinely want to explain what the Bible says in terms that are easy to understand. The thing that is so difficult to understand is why a man who feels compelled to explain, in perfectly clear and accurate terms, to the world what the Bible says and then deliberately contradict that explanation by his own way of life and in the direction he leads his church.

Some make an effort...

In his defense, four years after Mr. MacArthur published this book, he attended the Christless Christianity: 2010 West Coast Conference to help find a way to stem the relentless slide of modern "Christianity" into countless unbelievable compromises with paganism - many of which you will find exposed on this site. He is aware of the problem and wants to help. Well done, Mr. MacArthur - that displays some character that is concerned with God's will.

But some fail, miserably

NOTE: After spending some time watching some of the recorded parts of the Christless Christianity 2010 conference, it became apparent that nothing was changing in the course of today's churches. It turns out that three men, including John MacArthur, have joined together to make derogatory comments about others that apply to themselves as well. All the kudos I felt for them are now gone.

Stand firm

Now, if we can only figure out how to get people to see the true character of paganism and how most religions have adopted it to change our world for the worse.

We must demonstrate to the world that it takes character to stand firm for the word and will of God.





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