Who's Your Daddy?

"You are where you are because you act like you act. You act like you act because you think like you think. You think like you think because you believe what you believe." While I am not sure of the original source of this quote, I am sure of the original source of the truth on which it is founded: Jesus Christ. The Old Testament revelation of the Word of our Lord spends 39 chapters covering thousands of years of revealed history, prophecy, and interaction of God with the children of man to prove that positive and negative sanctions are not effective in promoting good moral decisions and behavior in even the most well intentioned humans. "Thou shall not . . . " or, "Thou shall . . .," laws given by God and written in "stone," codified and made holy and sacred, did little to insure consistent moral decisions and behavior in even men like Moses, David, and Solomon. Jesus arrived on the scene to profess that good, consistent, moral decisions are the product of, and ONLY the product of, the regenerated soul. Such decisions must come from within, not from external influence. Moral actions are the product of a soul in a committed relationship with Jesus Christ (what you believe), a mind that has been renewed and transformed by the supernatural power of God in Jesus Christ (what you think - the mind of Christ), and a life committed to obedience to our Lord and service to His creation (how you act); and by a heart of stone that has been cut out and replaced by a heart of love, (Jesus' heart), for Jesus IS love.

The Apostle John in the above verses asserts that all humanity can be divided into but two groups: the children of God and the children of the devil. He offers clear definition in how to differentiate between the two. The children of God are defined as those who do right, righteousness based on belief in Jesus, a personal relationship with Him, and dogged determination to learn His teaching and obey His commands; and an uncommon, supernatural love (agape) for all humankind, up to and including your enemies and the enemies of the gospel. They are regenerated souls, transformed from the natural to the spiritual by the power of the Holy Spirit. They have a kingdom worldview rather than worldly one. Such a belief system ("Believe in me . . . "), the New Testament asserts, changes the inner makeup of humans and empowers them to make good moral decisions and display good moral behavior, despite what positive or negative influences society and culture insist in imposing upon them to control their behavior. Those who do not find the source of their actions in God, in Jesus Christ, in the Truth of the gospel, John asserts, are children of the devil. Whosoever consistently omits and disregards the rights and dues of God is not of God, but on the contrary, of the devil.

The problem in this modern, Western cultural climate is that sophisticated human wisdom decries John's assertion. Those schools of thought would insist that there are alternatives to being of God or of the devil. They would say that one could be neutral, or be "my own man," or be devoted to country, or culture, or human wisdom and potential. The biblical revelation is that such belief systems are the products of human wisdom and human pride and, thus, of the devil. That is why so many have discarded the truth and teaching of the Bible and chosen to do "their own thing." They have decided that the courts' definition of "separation of church and state" (the Constitutions of the United States offer no such definition, in fact, the words "separation of church and state" do not even appear in the Constitution) means that we are not to even try to teach biblical truths in public institutions. Thus, we have produced a generation of immoral/amoral, materialistic, self-aggrandizing, Mammon worshiping leaders who are incapable of disregarding self-interest and making decisions for the good of the community. Yet, we insist that they display good moral behavior and make good moral decisions. NOT! And we should not be surprised when they do not or disappointed in the failure of all our efforts to convince or force them to do so. After all, they are only being consistent with the teaching of the Bible and the dictates of their unregenerate minds. They simply follow after the way of their father, the devil. They are where they are because they act like they act. They act like they act because they think like they think. They think like they think because they believe what they believe.