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My Statement of Faith*
Often it is thought that an attorney's duty is to persuade, especially in front of a jury. However, recently, commentators have suggested that it is impossible to persuade any one juror, one can only appeal to the jurors' preconceived set of values and beliefs. I believe there is a lot of truth to that. I cannot persuade one whose life experiences have not been the same as mine, because that person cannot feel what I have felt, and has not seen what I have seen. Therefore, this is not to persuade. I take the stand to be a witness. Hopefully, the reader can benefit from my testimony. At age fifty, I am convinced of one thing - that I am loved, cared for, nurtured, and supported by a God who personally loves me. And this not because of what I have accomplished in life as a citizen of this planet, or because I was fortunate enough to be born in a "free country". It is not because of what I have done, or what I have not done, or kept myself from doing, because it is written that my righteousnesses (do-goodism) are like filthy rags in God's sight. I was not born with a super perception about God, nor deserving in any way. In my early life, I did not realize how God had freed me from the requirement of being born noble, rich, smart, or handsome, or to cover my inadequacies with the material successes of life. I didn't know what to live for; I didn't know my way. . Although supported by a really good family, I was totally inadequate for any relationship with another human being because of problems common to all people. I have a bad tendency to reject others, to hurt others, to be egomaniacal, to be selfish, unkind, critical, hypocritical, quick to strike back, and to love only those who love me. Then, when those loved ones would show they had these same problems, I would reject them. I could cover these things up. What I could not do was escape was from wondering why I was feeling isolated, unusual, hopeless. These problems are addressed and solutions offered a lot of ways in our modern way of thinking - by psychiatry, by medicine, by the "work ethic", by world religions, and other modern disciplines and organizations. I explored some of those, and I failed. I suspect I'm not a lot different in these things from a lot of other people. When I was younger, family did provide a framework and certain principles to live by and therefore I was able to advance and keep my energy level up believing in who I was, where I was from, what country I lived in. In short, being from a good family, going to a good church, being lucky enough to have been born in the USA, and knowing that a good education, good job, the right wife, and my own family eventually would bring me to the place where I knew my life was good, had been good, and that would be satisfying to me. I just had to wait for someday. I was wrong. I became confused, downhearted, self-deprecating, and sad. The world's way is clear. Get ahead, be richer, be quicker, be meaner, be faster, be smarter, be stronger, be part of the crowd, make the most money, buy the most expensive things you can, live in the best place. However, experience eventually taught me the worthlessness of these things and how they only lead to wanting more and satisfying less. The world blames the environment to explain the reason why these things don't bring happiness and actually can cause misery, heartache, destruction, suicide, wars, pollution, crime, divorce, murder, and hopelessnes. You can't help it, you're a by-product of your environment. This fits in with the theory of the inherent goodness of man (only corrupted by his environment), which is totally contrary to the evidence, but which is equally a part of the world view. Therefore, I got discouraged when noticed these inconsistencies as I grew older and saw the hurt and the evil and the death and the pain and the misery inherent in the world. Where was the benefit of these advantages, where was the goodness? And why were all these bad tendencies a part of me? Why couldn't I control myself and do the good and not do the bad, if I had all these advantages? What was the explanation for what I experienced. Why was I touched by divorce, by alienation, by doubt, by depression, by lack of self-esteem despite what I had "accomplished"? I found myself out of touch, with myself, with others, and with God. Finally, when I had racked my brain and my body to the point of hopelessness, I asked God to help, and told him that if He didn't have a solution, there was no solution at all. At that point, God, through people close to me who were concerned about my condition, showed me that I could learn, through His communication method, the Bible and Bible teaching, about Him and fulfill my deepest need, which all along had been the need to know Him. I learned that man, although created by God and given perfect environment, rebelled against God, and that rebellion is an inherent part of our nature that cannot be solved by our effort, that man therefore went his own way and trapped himself in his unrighteousness; that man in his own rebellion and rejection of God, or, conversely, in trying to earn God's favor by man's own power and strength, failed. God, however, because of His love, reached out to man, mired in his own failure and hopelessness, and through His wisdom and power, God reconciled us to Himself through , at first, the teaching that His Saviour was coming as a sacrifice, and then by fulfilling that promise, which resulted in Jesus' ultimate sacrifice of paying for our sins by his spiritual death on the cross. I found out that, by believing that Jesus paid the price for our failure and transgressions, then I, or anyone, can enter into fellowship and relationship with God and eternal life and abundant life on Earth. In other words, it's nothing I, or we, could accomplish. When we accept, without guilt, self-condemnation, or the need for penance, God's gracious gift and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, we are saved and the righteousness of Jesus, the Christ, lives in us. Our sin and rebellion are no longer an issue (indeed, God forgets them!) and salvation is given to us. After salvation, we still sin, but if we confess our sins (privately), to God, as explained in 1 John 1:9, we are forgiven of that sin because of what happened before, Jesus' death as a sacrifice for the sins of each member of the human race. In other words, similar to how a court decrees innocence, the justice of God has been satisfied and we, who have been made the righteousness of Christ by our belief in Jesus, rely on Jesus' work once again, and we are restored to fellowship. God recognizes and honors Jesus' righteousness throughout our lives, supporting us as we learn to walk in the ways He decreed for us long ago. God has a plan for us to prosper and be filled with his goodness, while right here on earth, and ultimately, after we die and are with Him in Heaven. Through faith in Him after salvation and relying on his living Word to show us the way, we can have Life. Our relationship to God is often analogized to that of a father and his children. To you who didn't love their biological father, or who had a bad relationship with him, this may be a hard thing to relate to. Therefore, it may be best to draw on the best of fictionalized fathers for the analogy. And then some. Because He doesn't fail like the fathers we actually know or we've read about. He always knows what's best. The Bible says, if a son (us) would ask his father (the best father we can imagine from either our own experiences or from fiction) for a fish, what kind of father would instead hand him a snake? Instead, he "freely gives us all things". These "all things" are not necessarily great material blessings, although God has supported me and supports us here on Earth. If I don't have "all things" as the world defines them, what has he given me? Life. The ability to live a life that counts for something, that counts for God, our creator, saviour, protector, and friend. The perfect, the strong, the able, the source of love, the One of integrity. He gives us confidence, courage, and knowledge of why we are here. If it stopped with the relationship with Him of a father/son or father/daughter, that would be enough. But he gives us more. He gives us the knowledge to know what the gift of salvation is and to give this gift to other people. It's like finding a gold mine, but instead of hoarding the gold, there is enough to enrich everyone. I cannot brag. I still have tendencies to do all those bad things. I also have God advising on how to overcome them. I still get lost on my way. I also have God pointing out the right direction. I still have fears. I also have God comforting them. I still feel alienation. I also have God telling and showing me he loves me. I still worry. I have God extinguishing my worry with faith. I am growing older. I have God telling me I will one day go to a place where things will be perfect, where He and all his goodness will be, and I'll see again the ones I knew and I miss but are no longer here. In essence, God provides the solutions, the answers I couldn't come up with before, because He loves me. He won't refuse anyone who calls on Him, he gives his free gift of salvation without regard to a person's past, their status, social stature, or place in the world. There is no racial, religious, or gender barrier that stands between us and our God. Jesus broke down those barriers, and we only need to believe it. That is what I know and what I would wish everyone to know, if you believe my testimony, as a witness. Fred Pharis, revised 5/5/07. What must I do to be saved? "What think ye of Christ"? Click here for Pastor Rory Clark sound file. These are Internet bible studies I have found that are excellent. Through God's grace gift of technology, we now have the opportunity for so much literally at our fingertips: Grace Bible Church (Doctrinal Studies), Somerset, Massachusetts home page, with live Bible class, or to go right to archived Doctrinal Studies, with Power Point presentation linked with Windows Media Player, go here. Grace Doctrine Church, also Doctrinal Studies, Chesterfield, Missouri, with Internet Bible studies and live Bible class. Peninsula Bible Church, Palo Alto, California, presents the late Ray C. Stedman, in written and RealAudio form. |