Who cares about the doctrine of the Trinity?

Today is Trinity Sunday. This morning I had the privilege of preaching on the subject of the Trinity. But who really cares about this doctrine? The German philisopher Immanuel Kant certainly didn't see any benefit in knowing about or holding to the doctrine of the Trinity. He argued that "the doctrine of the Trinity provides nothing, absolutely nothing of practical value, even if one claims to understand it; still less when one is convinced that it far surpasses our understanding..."

I believe that the opposite is true. The doctrine of the Trinity is fundamental to the Christian faith and is also of great practical value for the Christian. But before I proceed, let me briefly state what I mean when I speak about the Trinity.

The doctrine of the Trinity

The doctrine of the Trinity consists of three parts, each of which are vital and cannot be left out:

1. There is only one God.
2. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are all equally God.
3. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are different persons.

One attempt of illustrating this is the following diagram:

Picture: Public domain

While the word "trinity" is nowhere to be found in the Bible, the Bible is clear that there is only one God (e.g. Deut. 6:4), that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are different persons (e.g. Lu. 3:21-22) and that each of them is fully God (e.g. Eph. 4:6; John 1:1; Acts 5:3-4).

Can you understand this or explain this? No. Nobody can. What makes you think you would be able to? God is the one who created us - not vice versa. So He understands and knows all about us, but we are limited in our understanding and cannot explain everything about Him.

But we can believe what the Bible teaches us and accept it as God's truth, even though we may not understand it fully. Martin Luther said,

Now, when you are asked to explain the Trinity, reply that it is an incomprehensible mystery, beyond the understanding of angels and creatures, the knowledge of which is confined to the revelations of Scripture. (Second sermon on Trinity Sunday in: Luther's Epistle Sermons, Vol. III)

When we look into Scripture, we find the Trinity in multiple places, starting with the creation of the world in Genesis.

The Trinity seen in the creation of the world

The very first verse in the Bible reads,

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." (Gen. 1:1)

What is interesting here, is that the Hebrew word translated as "God" is "elohim", a noun with a plural form ending but which takes a singular verb form. This already hints at a plurality in God, but it becomes even clearer a bit later on in the narrative:

"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness..." (Gen. 1:26)

Who is God talking to here? Who is the "us" and the "our"? This again points to the other persons in the Trinity.

The Gospel of John also starts out by telling us about the "beginning":

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God." (John 1:1-2)

Later in the passage (v. 14), it becomes clear that the "Word" refers to Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Jesus was in the beginning, He was with God and He was God. He is a different person, but the same God.

Now, who created the world? Was it God the Father, God the Son, or God the Holy Spirit? Or the Trinity together?

The answer is given in John 1:3, where it still speaks about the "Word" i.e. Jesus Christ:

"All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made."

Jesus Christ is the one who created everything. The fact that God the Father created through His Word is also seen in the way the creation is described in Genesis 1:

"And God said, Let there be light: and there was light." (Gen. 1:3)

And what about the Holy Spirit? Not much is said about the Holy Spirit's role in creation, except the following:

"And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." (Gen. 1:2b)

So we see the Father as the one who speaks or ordains, the Son as the one who acts, and the Holy Spirit as the one who has been sent from heaven to earth.

Let us consider two more examples to see if these roles of the Trinity can be seen elsewhere in Scripture.

The Trinity seen in the baptism of Jesus

Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased. (Lu. 3:21-22)

Here is another passage where we see all persons of the Trinity together. Once again, we see Jesus acting (being baptised and praying), the Holy Spirit descending and the Father speaking.

The Trinity seen in the salvation of people

Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ... (1 Pet. 1:2a)

God the Father's role in the salvation of people is electing those who are to be saved (cf. Eph. 1:3-5). He declares whom He wants to choose to be a part of His family. But it is not the Father who accomplishes the actual work of salvation. God the Father sends His Son to the world to die on the cross for our sins so that God's wrath against sin is absorbed and we can be forgiven. (John 8:42)

God the Son's role in the salvation of people is His obedience to the will of the Father (John 6:38) and His death on the cross for the sins of mankind (Eph. 1:7).

God the Holy Spirit's role in salvation is being sent by both the Father and the Son (John 14:26; 15:26), giving new life (regeneration) to people so they believe the gospel and trust in Christ (Tit. 3:5), and sanctifying (Rom. 8:13) and empowering (Acts 1:8) these people for service.

Differences in roles do not mean differences in divinity

So in all of these instances in which we see the Trinity involved, we see the Father as the one who plans, determines and speaks, the Son as the one who obeys and acts, and the Holy Spirit as the one who confirms and brings to completion.

We clearly see that the persons of the Trinity have different roles, but this does not mean that any one of the persons of the Trinity is somehow less "God" than another. Each is fully God.

Practical implications of the doctrine of the Trinity

I believe that we can practially apply the doctrine of the trinity in at least three areas:

1. Humility
   
   The doctrine of the Trinity is not a mystery or a riddle that God gives us to see who is clever enough to understand it. Quite the opposite - the doctrine of the Trinity should show us how incapable we are to fully grasp the greatness of God and His being with our small and limited minds. Thomas à Kempis wrote, "Of what use is it to discourse learnedly on the Trinity, if you lack humility and therefore displease the Trinity?" Let us learn from this doctrine to be humble.
   
   
2. Worship
   
   The more we learn about the different persons of the Trinity, especially in their different roles in accomplishing salvation for us, the more we should naturally stand in awe of God's great wisdom and power and love. If there were no Trinity, there would also be no salvation for us, because somebody was needed to act as a mediator between God and man, and this could only be done by Jesus Christ, who "being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." (Phil. 2:6-8)
   
   
3. Community
   
   The Trinity is the perfect community. God is love and each person of the Trinity loves and complements the others. This should teach us something about marriage. Marriage is a community of one man and one woman who serve one another in love. The husband and the wife have different roles in marriage. These different roles should not conflict, but rather complement one another. The church is also a community where unity is to be seen among the different members of the one body. Jesus prayed that those who believe on Him "all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me." (John 17:21)

Who is JESUS CHRIST really?

No other name is so well-known and at the same time so controversial as the name JESUS. Many people worship and love him, but others despise, hate or completely ignore him.

Today’s historians accept it as a proven fact that JESUS CHRIST really lived.  There is hardly any other person in the ancient world who has such a good historical record as this JESUS from the town of Nazareth. But who is JESUS CHRIST really?


There seem to be a thousand answers to this question. Some say he was a wise teacher, a revolutionary, a philosopher or simply a good person. Others consider him a deceiver or a lunatic. Muslims call him a great prophet and Christians believe that JESUS is the Son of God, the Saviour of the world. But which of these answers is actually true?


JESUS himself once asked the people who were with him, "But who do you say that I am?" (Gospel of Matthew 16:15) How would you answer JESUS’ question? Perhaps you have already made up your own opinion about JESUS. But when you talk about someone, it is only fair to also hear what that person has to say. What then does JESUS say about himself?


What does JESUS CHRIST say about himself?


JESUS CHRIST lived about 2,000 years ago in Israel. Some people who witnessed JESUS at that time were careful to keep a record of his words and deeds for future generations. These writings can be found in the most famous book in the world, the Bible. It is here that we find what JESUS said about himself:


I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (Gospel of John 14:6)


Here JESUS claims to be the only connection to God the Father and therefore the only true way to a relationship with God. This fellowship with God is the meaning of true life.


I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved. (Gospel of John 10:9)


With these words, JESUS claims to be the only entry-way to salvation.


I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. (Gospel of John 8:12)


JESUS promises to give life-saving orientation to all who follow him. Those who stand by JESUS are therefore brought out of all the lostness, fear and darkness of human existence and find a life full of security and hope in him.

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. (Gospel of John 10:11)


Here JESUS compares himself with a shepherd and those who believe in him with a flock of sheep. A shepherd guides, protects and provides for his sheep. As a good shepherd, JESUS even dies for his sheep.


I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. (Gospel of John 6:35)


Food and drink are vital for every human being. JESUS claims to be everything that a man depends on for life. This includes the human hunger for love, acceptance, joy, justice and peace. JESUS promises to satisfy this and much more forever in fellowship with him.


I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. (Gospel of John 11:25)


Here JESUS assures us that everyone who completely trusts in him is not destined to die. If JESUS himself is the source of life, this means that those who live in fellowship with him have a new life – now and for all eternity.


What kind of person is this who so confidently claims such extraordinary things about himself? While on earth, JESUS CHRIST was severely criticised and even attacked for making such statements. His enemies contradicted him by saying that no man on earth has the right to think – let alone speak – about himself in this way. Are you of the same opinion?


Even though JESUS was treated with such great hostility, he unwaveringly stood by his statements and also announced that he was commissioned and sent by God from heaven (Gospel of John 8:42). But why should God send someone to earth? JESUS himself also gives an answer to this question.


Why did JESUS CHRIST come?


JESUS says, I have come ...


... to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice. (Gospel of John 18:37)


... to seek and to save the lost. (Gospel of Luke 19:10)


... not to be served but to serve, and to give [my] life as a ransom for many. (Gospel of Mark 10:45)


... into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. (Gospel of John 12:46)


... that they may have life and have it abundantly. (Gospel of John 10:10)


It is striking that the motives for JESUS’ coming are connected to fearful things such as darkness, lostness, death, sin and judgement. What makes this frightening is that JESUS uses these serious words to describe the sad condition of human beings.


What went wrong?


You surely know the unpleasant feeling of having left a trusted partner such as your spouse, friend or neighbour in an argument. What a joy it is to be reconciled again! Every person has serious relationship problems and this is precisely what JESUS drew attention to.


But the relationship problems to which JESUS refers are much more dramatic than an interpersonal conflict. Again and again, he draws attention to mankind’s greatest problem: We live separated from God, the Father, the creator of all life. God created human beings as persons so that they can live in close fellowship with him.


The first human beings spoke with God and ordered their lives according to his purposes. In doing so, they found that God gave them complete joy and true fulfilment in life. This changed, however, on the day they thought they did not need God anymore. They believed the lie that they could also find a fulfilled life apart from God by having their own say over their lives. So they turned their backs on God and deliberately rebelled against him (see Genesis 2-3).


Have you ever asked yourself what gives or what should give fulfilment to your life? Inside every person there is a longing for personal fulfilment in life. Until this day, most people seek this fulfilment everywhere except in God. By neglecting God, man misses his true happiness in life and offends God who is the source of true joy. With such an attitude, man becomes hostile to God – whether he intends to or not. Such a lifestyle of ignoring God and his purposes is described in the Bible as sin.

God is completely good and righteous; therefore he detests evil such as murder, adultery, unkindness, gossip, envy, falsehood, theft, greed, quarrels, meanness, shamelessness, treachery, dissipation, injustice, schemes, violence, pride, boasting, disobedience, disloyalty, mercilessness, egotism, love of money, ingratitude, unforgiveness, obscenity, deceit, cruelty …


Everyone who honestly considers this will have to admit that human beings do precisely those things which God detests. And this is the great problem: man is not good because his life contradicts what God has declared good and righteous. Since God is holy and takes responsibility for all life, he cannot accept this behaviour, as it mocks him and harms mankind. Therefore God is justifiably angry with all men. In the Bible, God unequivocally says that every person must give an account before him after this life. On a determined day, God will judge and punish men for all their sins.


Is there a way to end hostility with God and avoid the eternal judgement of God’s wrath? Yes, thank God, there is! To be precise, this is the good news of JESUS CHRIST, the reconciler of the world. Especially when you understand what your condition before God is, you will also see who JESUS CHRIST really is.


JESUS CHRIST, the reconciler!


When JESUS asked his followers who they considered him to be, a man named Simon gave the only right answer.


"You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. (Gospel of Matthew 16:16-17)


Without exaggerating, JESUS was able to call himself the source of life, the only way of salvation and the truth in person because he is none other than the Son of God who came down from heaven to give his life as a sacrifice. Many people know that JESUS CHRIST was killed by being nailed to a cross, but only few people know the true reason for his death. God the Father sent his Son JESUS CHRIST with a very specific purpose into the world: he was to become a man and pay with his life for the guilt of many sinners. Completely voluntarily, JESUS suffered what we as human beings have deserved – God’s righteous judgement for sin. The Bible says,


... he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5)


We as humans have turned our backs on God, but JESUS’ back was whipped. We had the bad thoughts, but JESUS’ head was wounded with thorns. We acted against God and our fellow humans, but JESUS’ hands were pierced. We went our own wrong ways away from God, but JESUS’ feet were nailed to the cross. We deserved to die, but JESUS died in our place. Instead of punishing us, God opened the way to reconcile us to himself by sacrificing his own Son to die.


For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (Gospel of John 3:16)


Through his sacrifice on the cross JESUS CHRIST has become the reconciler. He alone mediates between guilty men and the righteous God. By paying with his life for the sins of men, JESUS leads men back into a relationship with God.


Be reconciled to God!


God the Father confirmed that he had accepted the sacrifice of his Son by raising him from the dead three days later. JESUS CHRIST lives and has the power to forgive sins and give eternal life. Those who completely trust in JESUS CHRIST to be saved from guilt, death and judgement, and entrust themselves with their whole life to this reconciler, have peace with God and eternal life in close communion with him. This message of reconciliation – which is also called the gospel – is addressed to all people. But only those who believe in JESUS CHRIST are also reconciled to God. Those who think lightly of this great love of God and despise and reject JESUS CHRIST’s sacrifice of reconciliation have no other hope. God’s wrath and his eternal judgement remain for those who do not want to be reconciled to him.


Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. (Gospel of John 3:36)


Dear reader,
Thank you very much for reading this far. Do not wait any longer, but come with your entire burden to JESUS CHRIST, who can give you forgiveness and true peace with God. JESUS says,


Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Gospel of Matthew 11:28)


Whoever comes to me I will never cast out. (Gospel of John 6:37)


Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. (Gospel of John 5:24)


Come and confess your sins in prayer to JESUS CHRIST and ask him to save you and reconcile you to God.


Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. (2 Corinthians 5:20)


(This text was originally written in German by some friends of mine for the website www.jesuschristus.de, an independent and interdenominational ministry for proclaiming the good news. I was very pleased to translate this text into English for them.)

Picture: sxc.hu

A faith-destroying seminary and a faith-giving God

The following is the testimony of Anita Kupfermann, who pursued theological studies in Germany only to find her faith being destroyed by what was being taught. She writes about how she lost her confidence in the Bible as the inspired and inerrant word of God as a result of the so-called “higher critical method” taught at the Theological College of the German Baptist Union. But God pursued her and by His grace gave her an unshakable faith in Christ and the trustworthiness of God’s word. Her testimony was recently published both in German and in English.

Please pray for the situation in Germany and for God’s grace and truth to reach through to those who are being taught (and those who are teaching!) a false view of God and His word.

Dear Reader,

Thank you for taking the time to read my story!

My name is Anita Kupfermann and I would like to tell you about my time studying theology. It is my hope that this little account of my experiences will serve as a warning and an encouragement to you. I would like to warn you of how the so-called “Higher Critical” (Historical Criticism) method left my relationship with God, and therefore my entire life, severely damaged. Yet I equally hope to encourage you! I can testify with great joy and thankfulness that the Lord Jesus Christ, during my time at university, healed my unbelief and called me to follow Him.

I hope and pray that God will be glorified through these pages and that you, the reader, will be encouraged to fully trust the Word of God.

My Time at Theological College & the Higher Critical Method (HCM)

Through my parents I was confronted with the Christian faith at an early age. I regularly went to Sunday School and was baptised at the age of 14.

A full ten years later, whilst working at a nursery, I was gripped by the desire to do something else with my time, something equally meaningful. I wanted to submit myself to the Word of God and reflect on my walk with God.

Although I had been baptised, I realised that I did not know the Bible. I couldn’t say I had a living relationship with God. I longed to know God better, to better understand what being a Christian meant. So, I decided to attend a theological college for ten months. My hope was that these ten months would supply what was missing in my faith.

Right from the beginning of my time at theological college I was confronted with Biblical criticism in the form of the “Higher Critical” method, (HCM). The HCM is the current philosophy of understanding and explaining Bible passages at German universities, as well as at many free-church theological colleges. According to this philosophy the Bible is not understood to be the inspired Word of God but a contradictory, mistake-prone, human work. Just like any other piece of literature it must be critically questioned and examined. This method of approaching the biblical texts normally leads to rejecting the historicity of the Bible - in other words, the historical accuracy and reliability of the Bible is questioned. Simply put, the Bible’s stories are just myths that never happened.

An example of this technique may help explain what it looks like in practice.

Mark’s Gospel has its origin dated back to roughly 70 A.D. According to the HCM, it is categorically denied that it was possible for Jesus Christ to have seen the future. However Mark’s Gospel reports that Christ predicts the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. This prophecy was perfectly fulfilled: in 70 A.D. the Romans razed the temple to the ground. The majority of critical researchers believe that the prophecy in Mark is a fake prophecy, (vaticinium ex eventu). Only after the event, they assume, was Jesus’ prophecy added to the text. The Gospel of Mark cannot have predicted the future destruction of the temple, therefore it must have been written afterwards.



With this fixed, faithless presupposition, the Holy Bible is critically evaluated until all her reports are questionable. A few more short examples give a fuller picture of the results of this modern critical scientific approach to the Bible:



• Adam and Eve never existed. Rather, they are merely literary symbols for all of humanity. Hence, there never was a real fall into sin.

• Noah and the ark is a legend, not a real event.

• The first five books of the Bible were not written by Moses. Instead they were compiled by at least three different writers over a long period of time. Moreover they are, at least in part, contradictory.

• The Ten Commandments did not come from God but slowly evolved from various stories. This happened a long time after Moses had died.

• The conquests such as those that are recorded in Joshua never happened.

• Jesus’ words and deeds in the Gospels were often invented later by well meaning Christians. Therefore, much of the Gospels is simply fictitious. For example; Jesus never talked about His death, much less His resurrection. Furthermore His identity as the promised Christ and as the Son of God was also invented at a much later date.  He never wanted to start a church or reach out to the Gentiles.

• Paul is not the author of the New Testament letters to the Colossians, Ephesians, 2 Thessalonians and 1 and 2 Timothy, or Titus. Neither did Peter write the letters ascribed to him.

These are just some of countless examples. The theories of the HCM were not taught at this theological college, or in my later studies, to merely acknowledge them. Instead they were taught and proclaimed with conviction. Under the influence of such teaching, the reliability of the Bible was increasingly questioned. I became more and more convinced that the Bible is not the infallible Word of God but a jumbled collection of human, (i.e. imperfect) thoughts about God and life.

An unavoidable question-mark was now next to every person and event in the Bible. Moreover, as well as my new discoveries about the unreliability of the Bible, my ethical convictions were also brought into question. At the college we discussed themes such as homosexuality and sex outside of marriage. Were these perhaps permissible after all? In short, I felt my doubts about Christianity and the Bible grow and grow. If everything is not as it was written then, how could I be sure of anything I believed?

My scepticism blossomed as we took up the theme of world religions in our classes. Faced with a deep crisis of faith, I seriously considered giving up Christianity. My lecturers were so certain that it could only be good for me to give up the fundamentals of my former faith. Only such a “deconstruction” would give me a new mature and responsible faith. Such was their conviction for my life, and I desperately hoped that they were right.

My Time at the Theological Seminary

After these ten months I returned to my old job for a year. During this time I toyed with the idea of furthering my education. As the questions raised by the HCM still occupied my thoughts, I was keen to further study theology. In addition I rather liked the thought of becoming a pastor. So it was that 2007 saw me begin to study theology at the Theological Seminary of the German Baptist Union. I received no call to this by God, even if I tried to talk myself into believing this was the case. I talked with many people about my plans, but not with God Himself.

In the meantime I no longer sought to question the HCM as I was well familiar with its teachings from my previous time at college. However, the criticism of the Bible was to increase dramatically over the next few years.

I can still remember, for example, a lecturer leaving a lecture hall, stopping at the doorway to say, “Tomorrow we’ll kill Moses!” He meant that the following day we would be taught that historically, Moses never existed as the Bible taught. Furthermore I learnt that many of the Old Testament accounts were nothing more than myths and legends; far removed from history and reality. The Jewish worship of Yahweh, - the temple system, services, festivals, and commandments, - was mostly copied from the religions of Israel’s neighbours at that time. Over hundreds of years the biblical texts were added to, changed and consciously manipulated by numerous unknown authors. This is why the Bible is (apparently!) so full of contradictions. If given room to do so, the HCM swiftly gains power, tearing through every point of doctrine like a hurricane, until assurance of faith lies shattered.



I heard many students say that these “academic” discoveries were a great help for them; at the time I agreed, or at least talked myself into agreeing. In reality I was beginning to reap the bitter harvest of my new, “mature” faith. At the end of the second semester I came to the firm conclusion that the Bible was totally unbelievable and thus I laid it aside at the bottom of my bookshelves. I had no more desire to read it, let alone to try and live according to it. I did not pray any more, nor did I ask God for help or wisdom. I was just too confident of my new critical attitude.



Despite having no inner relationship with God, I continued with the outward appearance of wanting to be a pastor. I preached and seemed religious – at least whilst in church! It was a different story when I was with my fellow students. There I did not hold myself back, increasingly getting drunk at parties and losing my distaste for lying and cheating. I especially enjoyed gossiping and slandering the other students. In this case I had a specific target, a group of young men who annoyed me beyond all else. They wholeheartedly believed in the Scriptures as the Word of God. There was a small group of students in my semester who defended the trustworthiness of the Scriptures - even in our classes. This greatly irritated me and other students and thus we delighted to spread rumours about them.

In doing this I was not in the least bothered by my conscience. I had long lost any fear of God or an eternal punishment. The words of warning in the Scriptures weren’t important to me. The god I had discovered through my studies did not get angry, respected people’s doubts and forgave everyone everything. What did I have to be afraid of? Why not have fun and live life to the max? This was my new philosophy for life, and this was how I lived.


However, once the initial euphoria had left, life became worse and worse for me, until I felt there was nothing for me to stand on. An inner emptiness made it increasingly clear that I had no true life or peace. In books critical of the Bible and in conversations I tried to find what I was missing, but to no avail.



Finally I asked an evangelist I met at a church event to pray for me. I longed for a real relationship to God but felt unable to ask Him. It was as if I had lost any ability to pray.

The Change!

A few weeks later the preacher’s prayer was answered. On the 6th December, 2008 the Lord opened my eyes to see my guilt and godless life.

The catalyst for this was a polemical speech given by a lecturer at a film evening at the seminary. Above all, he mocked those who put their trust in the reliability of every word in the Bible. One of those being mocked sat right in front of me and didn’t react. I talked to him afterwards and he assured me that he was not ashamed of his faith. His inner peace and assurance made me stop and think. I asked myself how the rest of the Bible-believers, or “Fundis” (short for fundamentalists) as we called them, reacted to all this.

To my great amazement they did not consider boycotting the classes. Instead they continued to meet together every day to pray for the mockers, lecturers, and the entire seminary. I saw that the Lord was their shield, that He had given them a firm faith. The Bible says that Christians do not live for themselves anymore, but for Him who died for them. Thanks to these young men I was able to see that the grace of God was working in them. They did not feel forced to defend themselves. I did not think this was a normal reaction to such a situation and I was greatly impressed. They simply passed the humiliation that they suffered on to Christ, and so anger or a desire for revenge simply had no hold on them.



After all these events, I drove home to spend Christmas with my family. There I recognised even more that I had despised God through my embrace of higher criticism. I had denied God’s word, rejected God’s grace, and mocked God’s servants. Worse than all, I had called myself a Christian and cared nothing for the atonement Christ bought at the cost of His life. This I realised to be an unbearably dreadful mistake. Over Christmas and with many tears I repented of many things, seeking God in prayer, and rejoiced to know His full and free forgiveness. With a glad heart I bought a new Bible and began to read it eagerly and joyfully; today I enjoy this book as much as I did then!

I called on the Lord Jesus Christ, humbling myself before him. I entrusted my life to Him and told Him that from now on I would believe His Word, no matter what questions I might have. To this day I do not have an answer to everything, but I am fully convinced that the Bible is completely inspired by God; inerrant and infallible in all that it teaches. I thank God from the bottom of my heart for the sovereign grace that He poured over me in letting me see my sinfulness and the Saviour who has given me such forgiveness.

Dear Reader,

I am so happy that you have read my testimony to the end. God has richly blessed my life and by His grace I believe that His Word is truth. (John 17: 17) It is very precious to be able to believe with childlike faith; I do not bother myself with any doubts or so-called academic discoveries that call into question the trustworthiness of the Bible. Instead I find in Christ, the true subject of Scripture, all the riches of wisdom and insight. Let us trust our Lord and Saviour, for then He will bless us. My prayer is that you, too, will be saved from unbelief and that your faith in God and His Word will grow from strength to strength.

In Christ,

Anita Kupfermann

6 minutes of good news

No matter what nation or people group or culture or language or religion, the gospel is good news for everybody. It is good news for you. Good news for every day of your life and for all eternity.

Will you take just 6 minutes to watch the following video about the gospel and find out how this is good news for you?



Think about it.

Meditate on it.

Let it sink in.

Believe the gospel and live.

You never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never outgrow your need for the gospel!

My creed

In my Church History class, we recently were looking at different creeds of the early church. These were written to define clearly what the church believed in, often as a response to heretical teachings of the time. One of our assignments in this class was to write our own creed. I thought it might be good to post it on my blog, too. I want my faith and beliefs to be based on the Word of God and I trust that this creed also is a reflection of that. So here we go...

My creed

God is the sovereign Creator and King of everybody and of everything. Everything exists for His glory.

God has revealed Himself to man by His creation, by His Son, and by His Word. The Bible is the verbally inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word of God.

There is only one God who exists in three persons – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. God is eternal. He has always existed and never had a beginning.

God created the universe and all that is in it in six days. On the sixth day, He created man in His own image. Although created sinless, the first man chose to sin against God, with the effect that all of his descendants – the whole human race – are born with a sin nature. Every person therefore is a sinner by birth.

Since God is a holy God and cannot tolerate sin, He must punish sin. He is completely righteous and loves righteousness and therefore must hate unrighteousness. Every sin is ultimately against God and His righteousness. Even just one “little” sin is such a great offence against God and His righteousness that the just punishment is eternal death and everlasting suffering in a literal hell. By breaking just one of God’s commandments, man has become guilty of them all. Man is by nature totally depraved and dead in his trespasses and sins. He can do nothing to save himself from God’s just wrath.

Because of God’s great love, He sent His Son Jesus Christ to earth to die for sinners. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, became a human being and was born by a virgin, so He did not have a human father and He did not inherit a sin nature. Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth and shed His blood on the cross where He died for the sins of mankind as their Substitute. On the cross, Jesus Christ bore not only the sins of men, but also the full wrath of God on these sins, so that man’s sins could be atoned for and forgiven. After three days, Jesus Christ rose from the dead, showing that God was satisfied with His payment and that He had won the victory over sin and death.

Because of Christ’s death and resurrection, any person who places His faith in Christ as his Lord and Saviour is forgiven of his sins and receives the gift of eternal life. The Holy Spirit regenerates and indwells such a person so that he becomes a new creation in Christ and can never lose his salvation. Those who reject Christ or place their trust in anything else for salvation remain dead in their sins and remain condemned to eternal death.

Jesus Christ will forever be King of kings and Lord of lords. Every knee will bow to Him and every tongue will confess that He is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Jesus died - so what?

Today is Good Friday. This is said to be the day in the year on which Jesus Christ was crucified and died. But it doesn't really matter if it was precisely on this day or on some other day, the important thing is the historical fact that Jesus Christ did actually die on the cross. And 2,000 years later, this event still has a bearing on the life of every person in the world today - including you.

So what does Good Friday have to do with you? And how could the killing of an innocent man ever be called a "good" event and be celebrated by Christians?

Whether you think you know the answer or not, please take 10 minutes today to watch the following video clip of Paul Washer speaking on this subject.