Matt Postiff's Blog

During an examination of Acts 17:2-3, I thought to connect it back to Isaiah 53 (a significant section of "the scriptures"). Paul was using the Scriptures to demonstrate that the Messiah had to suffer and rise again. Then he connected those prophecies to the actual historical happenings in the life of Jesus of Nazareth to show his audience the need to believe in Christ.

When I took a look at Isaiah, here is what I found (verses quoted from NKJV unless otherwise noted):

The apostle was showing that Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead. Isaiah 53 does this. It focuses on the suffering. But it also teaches the resurrection because it says that God will prolong the days of His servant (Isaiah 53:10), and He will give Him a portion with the great and spoil with the strong (Isaiah 53:12). These things clearly imply that He must come to life again in order to receive these blessings.

This post may be most helpful to our friends who hold reformed theology. It has to do with the Old Testament revelation concerning the gospel and the church.

I believe that some people may not be observing an important difference indicated in the words of the apostle Paul in two sections of Scripture. Here they are:

...the gospel of God which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord...Romans 1:1-3

...the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery...which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the Gospel...Ephesians 3:2-6

In short, Paul is saying that the gospel of Christ was revealed in the Old Testament Scriptures, but that another truth—of Gentiles as fellow heirs, as part of the same body, and as partakers of God's promises—was not revealed there.

I think there may be a tendency to conflate the two. We see promises about Christ and we see promises about Gentiles in some connection with Christ. We automatically connect those to "church" even though Paul does not. He sees the two ideas as distinct enough that he can say one was revealed and one was not.

The distinction between gospel and church is fairly clear today. If for no other reason, we can see it in some of our friends who want to enjoy Christ's gospel, but not Christ's church. They are wrong to do this, of course, but the distinction is real nonetheless. It is true that the church partakes of Christ through the gospel, that is, the church builds on top of the gospel.

The gospel was quite clearly portrayed in the Old Testament (see Isaiah 53 for instance). The church, however, was not clearly portrayed. Don't mix the two, as if the revelation of one entails and makes clear the other. It does not, certainly not in Paul's mind.

I was speaking with an elderly Christian lady on Sunday afternoon. She is more than 90 years old. When we spoke about a certain person's Christian salvation story, she expressed the idea using "coming out" language. This person "really came out for the Lord." This struck me as a bit curious given the baggage of that phrase today, but I said nothing about it to her in our conversation.

Afterward, I pondered some more. Obviously, she comes from a generation where "coming out" had nothing to do with the sexual revolution that is going on in the most recent generation. Today, the phrase "come out" refers to an act or time in a person's life where they express that they do not conform to the "assumed" (hetero-) sexual behavior or (birth) gender.

My elderly friend used "coming out" language to refer to someone turning from sin and living for Christ, with even the implication of "coming out" to the church instead of keeping a distance from the church. The connotation was that someone really took a stand for Christ, and became an outspoken Christian.

The LGBTQ movement has borrowed this terminology to express the conversion or change that they feel as they express their behavior and preferences to the world outside of themselves. It is a religious experience for them.

I wondered further if this has implications for "conversion therapy" that has become a hot-button issue these days. If someone "comes out" gay, then should they not also be able to "come out" from their prior "coming out"? In other words, I would think that they should be able to come out as a Christian, and thus leave behind their conformity to the gay or trans lifestyle. Maybe we should call it "deconversion" therapy.

No doubt, some will argue that "coming out" as gay or transgender is simply making a statement as to what the person always has been, so it is not as much a conversion as it is a realization or open expression. I understand the difference. Christian "coming out" is not "expressing what I always have been," for no one starts out life as a true Christian. Christian conversion is miraculous; it is deeply transformative. It is very different than "coming out" as it is used today.

I'm finishing Revelation and noticed something of an emphasis on repentance. For all the symbolism and other difficulties associated with the apocalyptic genre of Revelation, this element is crystal clear. God is very interested in people repenting.

Consider the following, which is the collection of all 10 verses in Revelation that use the word repent (all verses from NKJV).

Rev. 2:5 "Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place-- unless you repent.

Rev. 2:16 `Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth.

Rev. 2:21 "And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent.

Rev. 2:22 "Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds.

Rev. 3:3 "Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you.

Rev. 3:19 "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.

Rev. 9:20 But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk.

Rev. 9:21 And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.

Rev. 16:9 And men were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has power over these plagues; and they did not repent and give Him glory.

Rev. 16:11 They blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and did not repent of their deeds.

There is an awful lot of repenting that should be happening during the Tribulation. The remainder of Scripture is clear too that this is not something required of humanity only in the last days; it is the kind of response God desires in every age. It has been fashionable in some circles to downplay or eliminate repentance from the gospel. Such a fashion is not at all Biblical.

Your personal salvation testimony can be presented more effectively by careful organization. The following guidelines will help you in preparing a testimony that will communicate effectively what Christ has done for you.

1. Before you begin, ask the Lord to give you wisdom and guidance as you work on your testimony.
2. Make brief notes on three separate sheets of paper labeled:
   1. BEFORE = a short sketch of what your life was like before you became a Christian
   2. HOW = the details of how, specifically, you took the step of receiving Christ
   3. AFTER = relating the changes in your life after you became a Christian
   4. Using your notes from the three sheets of paper, prepare a draft of your testimony, applying the guidelines below.
3. Things to Avoid
   1. Avoid giving a travelogue dealing with externals and missing the spiritual matters.
   2. Avoid using lots of unnecessary details.
   3. Avoid mentioning specific churches, denominations, or groups (such as to criticize).
4. Identify with those who will be hearing your testimony.
   1. Use word pictures to increase interest. Don't just say, "I grew up on a farm." You might briefly describe the farm so a person listening can visualize it.
   2. Remember that this is a testimony, not a "preachamony." Say "I" and "me" instead of "you." Keep your testimony warm and personal.
   3. Include some humor and human interest.
   4. Generalize so that more people can identify with your story. You could say, "For fifteen years I didn't miss a single service at church, but never heard how I could have eternal life."
5. In the BEFORE, include both good and bad aspects of your life. Examples of good aspects might be a desire to excel, a concern for others, hard-working. Bad aspects might include an inferiority complex, temper, greed for finances.
6. In the HOW...
   1. Communicate the gospel clearly from your first-person perspective.
   2. Start with God, that He wants us to honor, love, and serve Him.
   3. Tell about the fact and penalty of sin.
   4. Say how Christ died to pay sin's penalty and rose from the dead.
   5. Explain the need to turn from sin/rebellion and receive Christ.
   6. Convey how God promises eternal life and how you can be assured of salvation.
   7. Keep in mind that someone else should be able to trust the Lord through your testimony.
   8. Use Bible verses to back up what you say. You should quote at least one to show that you really believe it. The Bible is the authority. Don't say, "Bill shared with me that I had sinned and needed forgiveness." Say, "Bill shared with me that the Bible says...."
7. In the AFTER, give some personal benefits of becoming a Christian. Emphasize the fact that the thing that has made the difference in your life was trusting in Christ as Lord and Savior.
8. Try to outline your presentation on a 3x5 card so that you can give your testimony from this outline.

Guest post by Bill Goodwin

Several years ago I went elk and grizzly bear hunting with bow and arrow in Montana. It was to be a nine day horseback trip into the mountains near the Continental Divide. It was late October and the weather was perfect. Our outfitter, Willis Kent, ready with the horses and equipment, led us up to the base camp from which we planned to hunt further up the mountain.

After hunting for two days one of my partners and I each shot a bull elk while they were in the midst of fighting, a very unusual happening that was a precursor of yet another unusual event.

We field dressed the elk and had to leave them on top of the mountain until we could retrieve them in the morning with pack mules.

It was getting dark fast and Willis warned us not to try to guide the horses in the dark as they knew their way back to camp. We started down a trail that we had not been on before. Within a few minutes we were below the timberline and darkness happened very suddenly. Willis asked me to bring up the rear and reiterated that we should not try to guide the horses, just let them follow his lead horse. As we proceeded four strong physical senses came into play. One, that our horses were in a descent angle; two, the only light that was visible was the occasional spark ahead of us from the horse’s shoes clipping rocks; three, the sound of the hooves on those rocks; and fourth, the tremendous sense of blindness from the total blackness all around us. What a helpless feeling, literally unable to see any part of the horse you are sitting on! Willis also told us to keep our head down to avoid getting our eyes clawed out by the occasional tree limb that we couldn’t see. At times our horses would be going down such a steep incline that they’d run down one incline and up the next. Imagine, riding a running horse downhill in pitch blackness, not seeing where the downhill ends and the uphill begins and all I can do is hang on to the saddle horn, grip the horse with my legs, and keep my head down to prevent being swept off the horse by a limb!

Finally we reached camp, took care of the horses for the night, sat down to our supper and made plans to go back up in the morning with the pack animals to bring down the game.

The next morning we went up that same trail. I saw that trail for the first time, since it was now daylight, and I must say, I was shocked! The higher we got, the more I looked at how close we were at times to the edge of what would have been a long drop had a horse made a wrong step! What would have happened if one of us forced our horse to turn at the wrong time?! (There had been times, because of the hairpin turns that the horse in front of you was really at your side and lower, making you think your horse was going in the wrong direction!) The natural tendency would be to take the reins and force your animal to turn, but we stuck to our instructions not to try this.

“Where is all this story going?”, you ask. Well, for me it has plenty of lessons if I wish to apply them.

First, I want to say that I mean no disrespect for the Lord, but I want for the moment to think of the Lord as being like that horse. If I’m a Christian, I can make no progress in the right direction without being in strong contact with Him. I also must recognize that God is in total control of all situations as I travel life’s trail. Col. 1:17, “and by Him all things consist.” God has the advantage over me in that He’s been there before me. God knows the trail, even in the dark He can still see the pitfalls, the rocks, the steep inclines, the edge of the cliffs to avoid. Even if the trail ahead seems crooked to me as in the hairpin turns, God knows what He’s doing, I shouldn’t try to force Him to fit my mold, but I should conform to His direction. God says in Romans 12:2, “Be not conformed to this world...” This world has diligently tried to ‘humanize’ God by trying to force Him to conform to our philosophy. The opposite is the truth.

I also find another truth. When my head is steadily bowed in prayer it is less likely to get knocked off or clawed up by the tough ‘limbs’ of this world.

Another lesson I found is to quit trying to control my own life, let go of the reins and instead, realize that God says in Ps. 37 that He holds us by HIS hand, not us doing the hanging on. Our strength is not sufficient. Only God is capable of carrying me through death’s door to be with Him eternally.

Those horses were completely knowledgeable of the trail. We had to trust them: our lives depended on it. Only God knows how to lead us to life everlasting, He, and He alone is able to provide the Way to that eternal life. If you repent, and put your faith and trust unreservedly in Him, He can and will forgive you of your sins. Only He is qualified to ‘carry’ you through the judgment because He has ‘Been There, Done That.’

Notes from a message by Pastor John O'Dell, September 22, 2013

1. What was my religious background before I was saved?
2. What was my previous attitude toward Christ or Christians or Christianity?
3. What stirred my interest to have a relationship with Christ?
4. What were the circumstances surrounding my salvation? Where was I and what was I doing?
5. Who did God use to explain the way of salvation to me?
6. How was I saved? What did I do to be saved? I must be clear that I trusted Christ as Savior and nothing else.
7. What difference has salvation made in my life? What is different now than before?

Take these questions and study the personal testimonies of Paul the Apostle (Acts 22, 26) and also Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 4). In the latter case, you need to make some obvious adjustments to the questions because Nebuchadnezzar could not have known Jesus Christ. Rather he became a believer in the God of Daniel.

Pastor O'Dell also emphasized that we should be brief and to the point. Do not extol the sin of your past but rather focus on the glorious work of God. Do not try to tell someone else whether he is a Christian or not, because you do not know. Remember that evangelism is a process, but salvation is instantaneous. Salvation is by grace without works, but there is something I did to be saved—namely, I responded to the gospel by faith. Take care not to use terminology or indirect phrases that will confuse an unchurched person. Make sure not to confuse what is necessary for salvation: it is not walking an aisle or saying a prayer or keeping track of a special date or time. We are saved by trusting in Christ as our own personal Savior.

Guest post by Bill Goodwin

I've written before about my father-in-law, Dale Nichols, and his expertise with a rifle.

This time I'd like to tell you about a competition shoot in which he was a finalist. The competition was keen among those Northern Michigan men. It finally was reduced to Dale and another marksman. They each were assigned their targets and were to shoot ten shots at 100 yards. Any style sights were allowed. The other marksman was using a .30-06 with a telescopic sight, while Dale used his .30-06 with peep sights. They each had fired nine shots. The man with the telescopic sight had hit the target so perfectly that there was but one hole in the center where all nine shots hit. They were preparing to fire that final shot when the other man swung his rifle over on Dale's target and looked through his scope and said, "Dale, you've got just one hole in the center of your target too." Then he swung his rifle in place for his final shot and fired. Dale fired his final shot. That tenth shot the other man fired was one half inch to the right of the center. Dale's final shot was in the center, winning the match.

The Bible says in Romans 12:1-2, “...let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus...” Whether it's a race or rifle competition, if we take our eyes off the goal, we'll miss the target and suffer loss. Phil. 3:14 says, "I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."

Any mediocre Christian can lead a mediocre Christian life. But like my father-in-law whose skill was not only in accuracy, but in concentrating on the "mark", a skilled Christian can have more success by not allowing himself to place his "Eye on Man."

Guest post by Bill Goodwin

My father-in-law, Dale Nichols, was well known in his Northern Michigan home County of Emmet. Besides being one of the best and most knowledgeable potato farmers in the area, he also was well respected as an expert marksman with his deer rifle.

Often, he'd enter a shooting competition that usually attracted the finest marksmen in the Northern tip of the Lower Peninsula.

On one of those occasions, the field of competitors was reduced to just him and another well-known marksman. Fresh targets were set up and the two men were assigned a target number. Each shooter was to fire ten shots. They each took their turn and when they were finished the targets were inspected. Dale's target had just one hole in the center, each round of the ten stayed in the same hole. His worthy competitor had just one hole also dead center. They each had shot perfect scores! When the judges further inspected they realized that Dale's opponent had fired at a target not assigned to him. He was disqualified! Lost! Of course everyone, including Dale Nichols, were downcast to have a good competition end this way, but rules are rules, and all respected it.

When we go through this life, we too, can do everything right in our own judgment. We often say that we've not cheated at school, or work, or play, that we've helped our neighbors when their cows got out, or taken food to a needy family. The list of our life's good deeds could add up to a “perfect score” in our eyes, and yet we could still end up in the 'lost' column. You see, it doesn't matter what your score is, did you do it according to the Judge's standard? God's standard of judgment is based on God's Standard! Think of it! God says, “All the ways of man are clean in his own eyes, but the LORD weigheth the spirits…There is a way that seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” Proverbs 16: 2, 25.

So you see, even God knew your score when He wrote that over 2000 years ago. If God knows your score, don't you think you should give more heed to the 'how' of it rather than the 'score' of it? Don't be in the lost column with a…PERFECT SCORE, YOU LOSE!!

Editor's note: This is by A. W. Tozer. I found it on a tract recently and thought it worthy of your (re)consideration.

ALL UNANNOUNCED AND MOSTLY UNDETECTED there has come in modern times a new cross into popular evangelical circles. It is like the old cross, but different: the likenesses are superficial; the differences, fundamental.

From this new cross has sprung a new philosophy of the Christian life, and from that new philosophy has come a new evangelical technique-a new type of meeting and a new kind of preaching. This new evangelism employs the same language as the old, but its content is not the same and its emphasis not as before.

The old cross would have no truck with the world. For Adam's proud flesh it meant the end of the journey. It carried into effect the sentence imposed by the law of Sinai. The new cross is not opposed to the human race; rather, it is a friendly pal and, if understood aright, it is the source of oceans of good clean fun and innocent enjoyment. It lets Adam live without interference. His life motivation is unchanged; he still lives for his own pleasure, only now he takes delight in singing choruses and watching religious movies instead of singing bawdy songs and drinking hard liquor. The accent is still on enjoyment, though the fun is now on a higher plane morally if not intellectually.

The new cross encourages a new and entirely different evangelistic approach. The evangelist does not demand abnegation of the old life before a new life can be received. He preaches not contrasts but similarities. He seeks to key into public interest by showing that Christianity makes no unpleasant demands; rather, it offers the same thing the world does, only on a higher level. Whatever the sin-mad world happens to be clamoring after at the moment is cleverly shown to be the very thing the gospel offers, only the religious product is better.

The new cross does not slay the sinner, it redirects him. It gears him into a cleaner and jollier way of living and saves his self-respect. To the self-assertive it says, "Come and assert yourself for Christ." To the egotist it says, "Come and do your boasting in the Lord." To the thrill seeker it says, "Come and enjoy the thrill of Christian fellowship." The Christian message is slanted in the direction of the current vogue in order to make it acceptable to the public.

The philosophy back of this kind of thing may be sincere but its sincerity does not save it from being false. It is false because it is blind. It misses completely the whole meaning of the cross.

The old cross is a symbol of death. It stands for the abrupt, violent end of a human being. The man in Roman times who took up his cross and started down the road had already said good-by to his friends. He was not coming back. He was going out to have it ended. The cross made no compromise, modified nothing, spared nothing; it slew all of the man, completely and for good. It did not try to keep on good terms with its victim. It struck cruel and hard, and when it had finished its work, the man was no more.

The race of Adam is under death sentence. There is no commutation and no escape. God cannot approve any of the fruits of sin, however innocent they may appear or beautiful to the eyes of men. God salvages the individual by liquidating him and then raising him again to newness of life.

That evangelism which draws friendly parallels between the ways of God and the ways of men is false to the Bible and cruel to the souls of its hearers. The faith of Christ does not parallel the world, it intersects it. In coming to Christ we do not bring our old life up onto a higher plane; we leave it at the cross. The corn of wheat must fall into the ground and die.

We who preach the gospel must not think of ourselves as public relations agents sent to establish good will between Christ and the world. We must not imagine ourselves commissioned to make Christ acceptable to big business, the press, the world of sports or modern education. We are not diplomats but prophets, and our message is not a compromise but an ultimatum.

God offers life, but not an improved old life. The life He offers is life out of death. It stands always on the far side of the cross. Whoever would possess it must pass under the rod. He must repudiate himself and concur in God's just sentence against him.

What does this mean to the individual, the condemned man who would find life in Christ Jesus? How can this theology be translated into life? Simply, he must repent and believe. He must forsake his sins and then go on to forsake himself. Let him cover nothing, defend nothing, excuse nothing. Let him not seek to make terms with God, but let him bow his head before the stroke of God's stern displeasure and acknowledge himself worthy to die.

Having done this let him gaze with simple trust upon the risen Saviour, and from Him will come life and rebirth and cleansing and power. The cross that ended the earthly life of Jesus now puts an end to the sinner; and the power that raised Christ from the dead now raises him to a new life along with Christ.

To any who may object to this or count it merely a narrow and private view of truth, let me say God has set His hallmark of approval upon this message from Paul's day to the present. Whether stated in these exact words or not, this has been the content of all preaching that has brought life and power to the world through the centuries. The mystics, the reformers, the revivalists have put their emphasis here, and signs and wonders and mighty operations of the Holy Ghost gave witness to God's approval.

Dare we, the heirs of such a legacy of power, tamper with the truth? Dare we with our stubby pencils erase the lines of the blueprint or alter the pattern shown us in the Mount? May God forbid. Let us preach the old cross and we will know the old power. (A. W. Tozer, Man, the Dwelling Place of God, 1966)