Fred is a distinguished looking man. Tall, rail thin and balding, he has chiseled features and piercing dark eyes. He's a tenured professor of microbiology and a prolific writer in his field. Fred has a serious disposition. If this were a world of pastry, Fred would definitely be heavy cake. Glowering, brooding and usually quiet, Fred can be explosively confrontational when driving home a point.
Through his studies Fred had come to the conviction that random interaction of lifeless atoms on the primitive earth could not have accidentally formed a living cell. He became part of the Intelligent Design Movement among scientists and began to seek God. As a result of this search, Fred had recently become a born-again Christian. He also began to share his faith with his colleagues.
Fred tried to keep his conversations about Christianity on a polite and scholarly plane. Sometimes, however, tensions rose to fever pitch and his conversation today with Harry was one of those times.
Harry is a tenured professor of biochemistry. A short, plump man, Harry has a cheerful temperament yet possesses a tongue that can lapse into cruel sarcasm. Additionally his personal life is wracked by scandal and he seems to be utterly void of morals. The points, counterpoints and barbs fly back and forth in this slightly heated conversation.
Fred, mindful of his Christian convictions, seeks to keep it from spiraling down into an ugly verbal slugfest. Fred then calmly and forthrightly brings up the issue of the impossibility of life forming from nonliving chemicals. Fred had waited patiently for the opportunity to bring up this point because he regards it as the Achilles' heel of the whole edifice of evolution.
Fred began "The proposition that life came from nonlife is one of the few areas of evolution open to accurate evaluation by rigorous experimental science." Fred continued "Microbiology has proven that single-celled life is complex beyond imagining. Biochemistry has proven that even the components of life -- proteins, DNA and RNA -- are complex compounds composed of many hundreds of atoms each in precise order. Computer driven probability analysis has proven that the probability of even the proteins forming randomly is so remote as to never happen in a trillion years! As far as I'm concerned the last word has been spoken. Life did not come from nonlife. There had to be a Creator!"
At this point Harry, was not about to surrender. Fred marveled at the obstinacy of the secular mind. Incredibly, Harry raised his voice and attempted to make the case that life formed randomly on another planet and was transported here. This is the view called "Panspermia." Fred then countered that it would be easier for Harry to argue that the Moon was made out of cheese than to suggest Panspermia!
Fred quoted the writings of great scientific minds such as Crick, Hoyle, Salisbury, Morowitz and many others who, taken together, made an airtight case for the impossibility of life forming randomly if even the whole Universe were composed of primordial soup.
Fred persuaded Harry with reams of evidence. Like so many other men of science, Harry finally began to see the fingerprints of God in the intricate patterns of life. Fred gently encouraged Harry to turn to God in repentance and obtain the salvation freely given by God through Christ. Christ's death and resurrection on our behalf has opened heaven's gates! *
*the above novelette is a fictional presentation of discussions that commonly occur among scientists today as more and more evidence emerges for the necessity of an Intelligent Designer of life.
The Bible is scientifically accurate! Find the evidence at www.icr.org.
Steps to salvation:
Jesus said "Ye must be born again." (John 3:7)
- Believe that God created you and loves you and sent the Messiah (Messiah is Hebrew for Christ) to redeem you.
- Believe that Jesus the Messiah came in fulfillment of over 300 Bible prophecies to die for you to take upon Himself the penalty for your sins. (Isaiah 53:5-6, John 6:29, Romans 4:5, First Peter 3:18)
- Turn from sin and call on the name of Jesus to receive forgiveness. (Romans 10:13)
- Receive Jesus as Savior and experience the new birth. (John 1:12, Acts 2:38)
- Follow Him as Lord. (John 14:21)
"Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:13)
To receive the salvation that Jesus purchased for us at the terrible cost of His suffering and death on our behalf I invite you to pray this simple prayer:
"Dear heavenly Father, I thank you for sending Jesus, the promised Messiah, to die for my sins. I admit that I am a sinner and I ask for your forgiveness on the basis of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I ask you to fill me with your Holy Spirit to empower me to serve you under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, Amen."
If you prayed that prayer in the humble sincerity of your heart then you have received everlasting life, which includes power to live right in this life and entrance into heaven in the afterlife!
Bill Nugent, Overcomer Ministries of West Harrison, New York, USA
(C) 2010 William P. Nugent, permission granted to email or republish if credit given
Read Bill Nugent's award winning Christian book, Lawful or Legalistic: How New Testament Believers Must Understand Old Testament Laws. For more information and to order click here.
efending-the-faith-archive.asp">Return to the Defending the Faith Archive
DEFENDING THE FAITH
APOLOGETIC ARTICLES
Bill Nugent currently writes a series of articles called "Defending the Faith" which, as the title suggests, defend the Christian faith from the many attacks leveled against it in our postmodern world.
The articles deal with such topics as evolution, UFOs, cults, modern/postmodern philosophy, liberal theology and popular culture. At the end of each article is an invitation to receive Christ as Savior and Lord. These articles are sent out over the Internet to several opt-in email lists. People who receive these articles are encouraged to resend them to their own lists and in this way reach their own unsaved relatives and friends with the Gospel.
All Defending the Faith articles are © 2009 William P. Nugent, permission is granted to email or republish if credit given.
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LAWFUL OR LEGALISTIC
HOW NEW TESTAMENT BELIEVERS MUST UNDERSTAND OLD TESTAMENT LAWS
Published by Xulon Press, Longwood, Florida USA, this book is available in soft cover at xulonpress.com at a reasonable price. It is similar to our free eBook #1 (Messianic Jews and the Law of Moses) but is written more from a Gentile perspective. Winner of the Best Christian Biblical Book of the year 2008 award given by Christianstoryteller.com.
Grace versus law is an issue of supreme importance to every follower of Jesus the Messiah. Finding the proper balance between grace versus law is a major key to a joyful, victorious lifestyle that glorifies God. The on-line book titled Messianic Jews and the Law of Moses and the new paperback Lawful or Legalistic: How New Testament Believers Must Understand Old Testament Laws tackle the subject of grace versus law from a whole new perspective.
The author, Bill Nugent, a gifted Bible teacher, approaches grace versus law by giving a proper understanding of how the Old Testament law is a prophetic picture of the New Testament walk by the Spirit. For instance the Sabbath was a day of rest on which the people were commanded to cease from work. Under the New Testament we observe not a literal cessation from work every seventh day but rather we observe the spiritual fullness of resting in Christ whereby we cease striving and simply flow in Christ's strength and joy to work in such liberation that it hardly seems like work.
Other aspects of the Old Testament Law such as tithing and the dietary laws are also discussed from this perspective. Issues such as Jewish believers' Torah observance are discussed. The prophetic issues pertaining to the millennium in which some teachers claim that animal sacrifices will be offered in a rebuilt temple are also discussed at length. Other chapters contain some extremely helpful teaching on laying down the self-life and how to walk in continued guidance by the Holy Spirit.
You will enjoy reading this timely, insightful, practical and thought provoking book. What follows are short descriptions of each chapter:
- THE TEACHINGS AND LIFE EXAMPLES OF THE APOSTLES REGARDING THE LAW:
The whole concept of covenant and covenant law is defined. The New Testament apostolic teaching on the Abrahamic and Sinaitic covenants is explained as a foundation for the central premise of the book. The fact that we fulfill the Law by walking in the Spirit is shown. Voluntary keeping of the literal Law of Moses is permitted but not biblically required. The apostles’ teachings in the epistles are studied in the context of their godly lifestyles which are recorded in the book of Acts. It is important to understand the lifestyle and cultural context of the apostles' teachings. The emphasis in this chapter is why we must walk in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.
- THE NEW WINESKIN INSTEAD OF THE OLD"
Specific examples of literal Mosaic laws (Sabbath, dietary laws etc.) are given in order to show how these laws find fulfillment in Christ. The emphasis in this chapter is on how to walk in the Spirit to keep the law in substance rather than shadow.
- WILL ANIMAL SACRIFICES BE OFFERED IN A MILLENIAL TEMPLE?
The eschatological question as to whether or not animal sacrifices will be offered in a stone temple during the millennium is dealt with here. This chapter explains why a reinstitution of the animal sacrifice system is not at all intended by the prophetic passages often cited to make this claim. A correct understanding of the prophetic passages is given.
- ARE GENTILES UNDER THE COMMANDS OF NOAH?
There are some teachers who put Jewish believers under the literal Law of Moses who also attempt to put Gentiles under a separate legal system based on the Noahide covenant of Genesis nine. This chapter explains that Gentiles are free from this obligation because the commands given to Noah also find their fulfillment in Christ. Each of the commands of Acts 15:29 (alleged to be derived from Noah) are analyzed in depth.
- THE LAW OF MESSIAH:
We are under grace and not under law yet the New Testament is full of commands. This chapter analyzes the commands Jesus gave in the Sermon on the Mount and the commands given through the apostles in the epistles and explains how we are to understand and obey them. Specific examples of how the apostles understood and obeyed these commands are given. Examples from modern day life are also given to shed light on how we must walk by the Spirit to obey New Testament commands.
Click Here to Order
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