Proverbs 22:24-25 “Do not associate with a man given to anger; or go with a hot-tempered man, or you will learn his ways and find a snare for yourself.”

Some people don’t belong in our lives. We don’t seek communion with Satan. God will guide us to minister where He is opening the door for ministry. He will lead us away from ungodly counsel and fake information pushers to those who speak by His Spirit. We must desire this and ask Him for this leading.

We see a concerted and organized effort to destroy the basics of God’s orders. It’s going to the point of complete insanity being taught in schools and on news services. We know that Satan is the one setting all this in disorder, but he’s using people in a loosely-knit unity-in-diversity, new age networking system. We see the ever-expanding “sexual revolution” (the sin of Balaam), drugs, stealth occultism, the big-bang-billions-of-years-no-Flood-molecules-to-humanity story, coercion against truth using powerful governmental forces, political correctness as a way of message control. They control every form of communication to the point of censoring Christians on social media. There’s much more to the rapid changes we’re seeing in the world, but these few methods show the types of methods that are causing the changes. These methods seem to focus on destroying connection with Christ through the Bible, the Church, and the home. These seek to destroy faith, the faith that comes by hearing the utterance of God.

Atheists and other ungodly thinkers also love to bait us and try to make us angry. I’m talking about the trolling discussion groups like the fake Kent Hovind groups or the fake Creationism group. I’m talking about trolls who pop into our conversations uninvited. They come with personal insults in hopes of making us angry. They know that when people get angry, anger makes them less intelligent. Angry people say stupid things. If they can get us to say something stupid, that’s a huge victory in trying to justify their foolishness in denying God while God is revealing Himself to them through our testimony. Don’t fall for it. Better to block trolls early rather than giving them a platform.

Proverbs 9:8 “Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man, and he will love you.”

Psalm 1 “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or set foot on the path of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither, and who prospers in all he does. Not so the wicked! For they are like chaff driven off by the wind. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the LORD guards the path of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.”

 

The publisher has finished proofreading and is now working on formatting. After formatting the ebook, many of the internal links will be broken. Once those are repaired, the Real Faith & Reason Library will go out to selected people as an advance reading copy (ARC). If you would like to have an early copy, I would welcome your feedback. Send me a friend request on Facebook: @PetrosScientiaAuthor.

God bless!

Petros

Operational science is pragmatic. Scientists repeatedly observe and test. They find things that work. Science like that leads to working products. However, ungodly scientific speculation often conflicts with Scripture. This is particularly true of historical storytelling. Persuaders commonly label these speculations as “science,” but no scientist can observe speculations or stories. The problem with speculations that go beyond what we can observe and test is that we can’t observe or test them. Nonetheless, when schools, news programs, and movies call the speculations “science,” some theologians believe the speculations are science.

We can know things about history. Humans create artifacts that communicate information. We can’t always tell if the humans were honest or correct. So, once again, we can’t go beyond what we can observe or test.

That seems hopeless if we can never know anything beyond what we can observe and test. However, we’ve only looked at part of the story. Knowledge requires true premises. The fallen human mind has no path to true premises as we’ve already discovered. The human mind has no way to observe and test what it has no way to observe and test. When the human mind tries to depend on itself to go beyond what it can observe and test, it becomes irrational. Rational thought requires true premises and valid form.

We’ve left out one vital fact. God provides true premises through divine revelation. He reveals reality through Scripture and every means mentioned in Scripture. He’s able to reveal Himself to all who will yield themselves to Him. Everyone who seeks Him finds Him. He alone reveals that the Bible is His word without error. This was the secret of George Washington Carver, Albert Einstein, and others. He’s able to give discernment between the true teacher and the false teacher, between the true prophet and the false prophet.

No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word.No myth is filled with such life. Albert Einstein

The divine reveals itself in the physical world. Albert Einstein

I want to know how God created this world. I want to know his thoughts. Albert Einstein

The Real Faith & Reason Library will be out soon. It’s a six-book set containing two reference texts. The truth isn’t complex or hard to understand as this article points out. The lies make truth seem hard to understand. The Real Faith & Reason Library deals with many of those lies. Real Reality, Inc. will be offering the ebook version for free. This is the kind of book you want to keep in your library for future reference. We also plan an audiobook, and we’re going to make that free as well.

What does it mean to be in Christ. And how do we get into Christ? The short answer is that being in Christ is being in His body and you’re born in when you’re born again. But the question is too interesting to end it there. I think that God has shown me, or is showing me, the answer. We know that Christ is in us from the moment we’re born again. We know that He’s being formed in us. It seems that He resides in our spirits and our minds. At least, He’s in our innermost beings.

But what does it mean to be in Christ?

God seemed to speak to me on this subject some years back. And still, I know that my understanding is incomplete on such a deep topic. Anyway, the Scripture God brought to mind was this:

1 Corinthians 12:12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.

Notice that the Scripture doesn’t say, “So also is the body of Christ.” It’s comparing the human body to the body of Christ, but it says, “so also is Christ” rather than saying “so also is the body of Christ.” It seemed that God was telling me about how close our relationship is. We are one with Christ in a way that we really can’t understand. Our fleshly nature isn’t one with Christ. But He dwells within. We now identify with Christ in us. He is our identity. We are not the fleshly man. As I said, I have very limited knowledge on this subject, but it seems that when we were first born again, we were in Christ. Now, the Holy Spirit is purifying Christ in us. It’s not that Christ isn’t pure. He’s pure. But we have a carnal nature that must be purged away. The Holy Spirit only purges by permission. This is why we must yield the members of our bodies to the righteousness (the free gift of righteousness) of Christ. This is all in Romans of course.

The following verses show that we are born into this body. We are in Christ the moment we’re born again. But maturity is what God wants. He doesn’t want us to remain under the control of the flesh and with just the seed of Christ. I could have quoted Paul saying how he was in labor pains over the Galatians until Christ would be fully formed in them. He’s looking for mature sons of God. We’re groaning within ourselves waiting to the adoption, which is the redemption of our bodies. We look for Christ to be fully manifested and the flesh to be removed.

The body of Christ . . .

• . . . isn’t just a group of people.
• . . . is a group of ministries—Christ in us.
• . . . moves according to specific orders that are defined in Scripture but often considered, by some, to be unimportant.
• . . . consists of gifts, ministries, offices, and orders that are defined in Scripture but that don’t glorify the fleshly nature.
• . . . flows in the love of God.
• . . . is led, taught, and corrected continually by the Spirit of God.

Romans 12:5 So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.

1 Corinthians 1:2 Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:

1 Corinthians 1:30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:

1 Corinthians 8:6 But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.

2 Corinthians 3:14 But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

1 Corinthians 3:1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.

Romans 16:9 Salute Urbane, our helper in Christ, and Stachys my beloved.

Romans 16:10 Salute Apelles approved in Christ. Salute them which are of Aristobulus’ household.

1 Corinthians 4:15 For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.

1 Corinthians 4:17 For this cause have I sent unto you Timotheus, who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach every where in every church.

Romans 16:7 Salute Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen, and my fellow prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me.

The publisher has finished proofreading. The next step is formatting for print. After that, the publisher will format for ebook. Concurrently, we’re editing the audiobook. The ebook and audiobook will both be free. We do ask a favor. If you listen to the book or read the book and like it, please give it away to everyone you care about.

Thank you,

Petros

The Back of the Boxed Set

If you desire the truth, the Real Faith & Reason Library is for you. At the intersection of faith and reason is a place called sanity. As we focus on this intersection, we realize that we can’t separate reason and rational thought from faith.

The Real Faith & Reason Library will

demolish the lies of ungodly thinkers. show why rational thought is impossible without faith. explain how we know without question that the Bible is true. reveal how we know personal revelation won’t conflict with the Bible. establish the truth on the only firm Foundation, Jesus Christ. answer the questions and objections of those who are hostile to Christ. teach how to discern between truth and error. understand how to sort through the many voices claiming authority. This library is a deep dive rather than a superficial explanation. It doesn’t create a stalemate where neither ungodly thinkers nor Christians can prove their points. Rather, it explains how to prove the truth of Christ and the Bible with absolute certainty, and it leaves the ungodly thinker with bare claims and fallacies.

Six Books in One

The Real Faith & Reason Library consists of six books. Three books focus on our rational thought journey as followers of Christ. One book focuses on the logic of the Nye-Ham Debate. Two books are reference texts you’ll want to keep on hand.

Why Have a Real Faith & Reason Library?

Real Faith

Real faith has power. Real faith establishes our understanding of reality on a firm foundation. But fake faith is powerless and worthless. When this powerless faith is substituted for real faith, it’s dangerous and destructive. In a world regulated under a secularist, naturalist mindset, much of the church has slumped toward a kind of fake faith, a make-believe faith. Real faith isn’t pretending. Without the living Christ active in our lives, faith becomes a mental exercise in which we make ourselves believe in various things. Real faith isn’t a leap into the darkness that lands us in the light. Real faith is not belief without evidence. Real faith is supernatural assurance and knowledge of truth that comes when God speaks to us. Christ leads, teaches, and corrects everyone who will listen to Him and follow Him. Whoever seeks Him finds Him. All may come. He speaks through Scripture and every means mentioned in Scripture. So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. ~ Romans 10:17 King James Version If faith comes by hearing the word of Christ or the word of God, then it’s important for us to know what God means by “word of God.” What term was translated as “word?” It’s the Greek term “rhema.” What does “rhema” mean? Rhema means utterance. The NAS New Testament Greek Lexicon defines it as “that which is or has been uttered by the living voice, thing spoken, word.” It’s “any sound produced by the voice and having definite meaning.” It’s “speech, discourse, what one has said, a series of words joined together into a sentence (a declaration of one’s mind made in words), an utterance, a saying of any sort as a message, or a narrative.” Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. ~ Hebrews 12:2 Jesus authors our faith. He originates it. We don’t. He’s also the finisher or completer of our faith. Notice how different this is from the make-believe faith that skeptics call “belief without evidence.” Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. ~ Hebrews 11:1 King James Version What Greek term was in the original text that the King James translators rendered as “substance?” The Greek term is “hupostasis.” What does “hupostasis” mean? It means essence. It means reality as opposed to concept. What about “evidence?” What word is in the original text? The Greek word is “elegchos.” Elegchos is absolute proof. Therefore, real faith is absolute by nature. It’s absolute proof. It’s substance or reality. The reason it’s absolute and powerful is that Jesus Christ originates it. It comes when we hear the voice of God through Scripture. God speaks to us through Scripture. Through Scripture, He tells us about other methods beyond Scripture by which He speaks to us. Faith also comes when He speaks to us through those methods. By faith, we know that the Bible is the utterance of God without error. By faith, we know that God never contradicts Himself. That means that one Scripture never contradicts another Scripture. It also means that no other form of revelation will ever conflict with any part of Scripture. For instance, God will never state one truth through Scripture and contradict that truth by revealing something contradictory in His creation. That is to say, true scientific observation will never conflict with Scripture.

Real Reason

Real reason is also absolute. Real reason also goes beyond inductive reasoning that can only speak of probabilities. It goes beyond the pragmatism of science that never deals with truth but only with what works in the natural realm. Real reason goes beyond opinion to absolute knowledge of the truth. However, the intellectuals have told us that no one can know anything absolutely. We’ve been discouraged from seeking absolute truth. Sound reason requires true premises because we can’t use unproven claims to prove other claims. And yet, the secularists say that sound reason doesn’t require true premises. They say that we can begin reasoning by establishing assumptions on which we all agree. What are assumptions? They’re unknown beliefs that we accept as if we knew that they were true. They aren’t known, but we pretend that we know them. In a sense, we deceive ourselves when we assume. Without true premises, our reasoning isn’t sound. With inductive reasoning, we can only speak of probabilities. With true premises and valid deductive reasoning, we can advance to the knowledge of the truth. We can’t know everything, but we can know some things with certainty.

The Connection between Real Faith and Real Reason

If we have to start our reasoning with assumptions or presuppositions, we can never go beyond opinions. Our reasoning will never be stronger than our assumptions. Since assumptions are unknowns, where does that leave us? However, the real faith takes us beyond assumptions and presuppositions to substance, truth, and absolute proof. The real faith is able to do this because it comes from the utterance of God. This is the same utterance by which God brought the universe into existence. The wonder is that we can have this assurance and certainty right now. With that knowledge, we can reason rationally. We can have sound reasoning. We can know the truth and the truth will set us free.

Who we are in Christ—God needs us to see that. 

As we all, with unveiled faces, beholding, as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord, are transfigured into the same image from glory to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord. 

2 Corinthians 3:18 literal from KJV

What do we see in a mirror? We see ourselves and how we fit into the room we’re in. But James spoke of a mirror and a perfect law of liberty. This mirror that’s involved in our transfiguration is a spiritual mirror that shows us who we are in Christ, how we fit into the body of Christ as particular ministries in that body, what is and is not part of the body of Christ, and what God is telling us to do right now. 

Whenever God speaks to us, whether through Scripture or the other means mentioned in Scripture, we hear His voice and see this vision. Faith comes and faith gives us access into His grace. His grace is power for His free gift of righteousness. He does His works through us. That’s righteousness. Righteousness incrementally makes us holy as we yield to the living Christ in this way. Step by step, He builds up Christ in us and demolishes the strongholds of the fleshly nature.

Reason that can produce knowledge of the truth requires true premises. Even a single assumption added to an otherwise true premise results in an untrue premise. Most effective lies are almost completely true from some point of view.

Therefore, if we use made-up stuff to “prove” a conclusion, that conclusion is also made-up stuff. And if we use truth plus made-up stuff to “prove” a conclusion, that conclusion is made-up stuff as well. And if we use a true premise but the form of our logic is invalid so it adds made-up stuff to the premise, our conclusion will also be made-up stuff. Only a true premise and valid logical form can prove any conclusion. That true premise and that logical form can’t contain any made-up stuff.

Without divine revelation, true premises are impossible. How would anyone prove a premise true? No one can. Therefore, rational thought is impossible without divine revelation. Without divine revelation, science is purely pragmatic. It leads us to working products by trial and error coupled with God’s mercy and revelation, whether or not we acknowledge God and thank Him for that revelation. Naturalistic science never leads to knowledge of truth.

All arguments against divine revelation are based on made-up stuff. No argument against divine revelation is based on divine revelation since that would be self-refuting.

Wait a minute. Naturalistic science never leads to knowledge of truth? Doesn’t science lead to a knowledge of God and in return a knowledge of Truth? Natural Science exemplifies God. It shows us His character, His power, His glory in every single aspect. It was created by Him and for Him and through Him. Science is the study of our natural world, and it’s actually quite amazing how much He reveals about Himself in our natural world. It will always point us back to Him every single time. So, doesn’t naturalistic science lead to knowledge of truth?

Science as the study of nature can lead to truth—not on its own but as God uses it to reveal reality to us. God reveals reality through science, but NATURALISTIC science NEVER leads to knowledge of truth. The term “naturalistic,” which refers to the philosophy that expels God and tries to explain all creation without God is not the same as the term “natural,” which refers to having to do with nature.

It’s true that God speaks to us through the things He has created. We know that from the first chapter of Romans and personal experience.

Speaking of science using the word “science” as a noun often leads to a misunderstanding of what science is. The process of observing, experimenting, trying this and that, and testing, if it is devoid of the Spirit of God and if it doesn’t acknowledge God, will not point us to God. God reveals Himself and His truth through creation, through the observing, experimenting, trying this and that, and testing. However, the first chapter of Romans points out that we are perfectly capable of failing to honor and thank Him for that truth and perfectly capable of suppressing His truth in our unrighteousness.

That’s why naturalistic (Godless) science never leads to knowledge of the truth. It can only end up with something that works or doesn’t work, in other words, pragmatism. God, in His mercy, allows pragmatism so we can survive until we reach out and find Him. Therefore, the heart that’s hardened against God can do pragmatic, godless, naturalistic science, observing, experimenting, trying this and that, and testing. God may reveal some things that work, but a dogmatic ungodly thinker has determined beforehand not to acknowledge God or thank Him for this. These thinkers have purposely blinded their eyes to Him through the philosophy of naturalism. They will be ever learning but never coming to a knowledge of the truth.

All sexual perversions come from irrational thinking. All destructive religion and philosophy comes from irrational thinking. Historical storytelling is based on irrational thinking.

Historical storytelling would include all stories that go beyond what God reveals about the past. They lead to belief systems such as evolutionism and old-earthism. PatternsOfEvidence.com, Creation.com, AnswersInGenesis.org, ICR.org, and CREV.info are all excellent sources that expose many of the inconsistencies and fallacies of those who engage in historical storytelling.

Much of the issue comes up when trying to convince an unbeliever of God’s existence. However, God reveals that every person already knows. God may use us to lead a person back to Christ, but they are actually acknowledging the One Who already revealed Himself to them. We may present many truths from science or philosophy, but we can’t prove any truth using mere science or philosophy. All truth is hidden in Christ Jesus. The most certain way that any of us knows that Jesus Christ exists is because we know Him. Since that’s an inner experience, we can’t use our experience to convince anyone else.

However, we don’t ask anyone to merely take our word for it. Each person can have his or her own experience. We invite them to know Christ. Many people don’t want to know Jesus, and they’ll refuse to seek Him until they find Him. They’ll dream up some excuse. Yet, everyone who loves truth will find Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit will then begin teaching that person about reality. Christ leads, teaches, and corrects every person who follows Him. He speaks through Scripture and every means mentioned in Scripture without ever contradicting Himself.

Here’s a problem. In our immature spiritual state, we humans have trouble discerning the difference between our own minds and God’s revelation. Our own desires can pull us off the narrow Path—that narrow path being the leading and direction of Christ. That’s why Paul conferred with the other apostles. That’s why Peter didn’t attempt to establish doctrine on his own in the fifteenth chapter of Acts. That’s why we see a multiplicity of apostles establishing doctrine and a multiplicity of elders pastoring local churches in Scripture.

And yet, God knows our minds better than we do. He knows all our dark secret thoughts, and he knows our desires. He promises us that not even a fool will miss the way on this Path as long as they keep walking and seeking Him. If He hadn’t promised to never leave or forsake us, we would soon miss the Way. But He handles the revelation, and He handles the discernment between what He reveals and what our human minds make up. As long as we continue to be teachable before Him and desire truth over what we already think we know, the Holy Spirit will continue to lead, teach, and correct us.

Skeptics will argue against this truth. Generally, they will claim that their made-up stuff is true stuff or, at least, true enough for practical purposes. Then they will claim that, because we who follow Christ are sometimes unsure of the distinction between divine revelation and our own imagination, we have the same problem as they do to the same degree that they do. They may even claim that we can’t tell the difference between God’s Spirit and an evil spirit. We’ve already answered that argument in this article. We trust God and His promise. However, skeptics can become dogmatic about their arguments. And yet, they must base their arguments on made-up stuff.

Therefore, keep seeking the mind of God. Spend much time in Scripture, and ask the Holy Spirit to teach you and correct you as He speaks to you through Scripture. Scripture says that God speaks through His creation, so don’t be afraid of science. Pray to Christ and stand in His presence as you consider any claims of scientists, and He will impart His discernment to you. You’ll know the difference between human opinions and actual observations. Through Scripture, God tells us that He speaks through the members of His body, through our brothers and sisters in Christ. Ask the Holy Spirit to lead you to faithful men and women who follow Him and who will provide you with good counsel. Spend much time in prayer (asking) and supplication (listening), and seek Christ specifically. Avoid ungodly counselors of all kinds. They will seek to dilute the truth and confuse your vision. God tells us, through Scripture, that we become a servant of whoever we yield ourselves to. Through the first Psalm, He tells us to avoid the counsel of the ungodly. Yield yourself to God. Stand in His presence. Let Him speak to you through all the ways He mentions in Scripture.

SUMMARY DISMISSAL

Ungodly thinkers have a new way to keep themselves from thinking. They just declare this to be presuppositional apologetics, which they have already dismissed without considering the implications. Of course, anyone who has read the full article knows that it’s not presuppositional apologetics. We could call it revelational apologetics. It points out the made-up stuff of ungodly thinkers (which they can’t escape) and compares that made-up stuff to divine revelation (which is available to every person through Christ).

The Back of the Boxed Set

If you desire the truth, the Real Faith & Reason Library is for you. At the intersection of faith and reason is a place called sanity. As we focus on this intersection, we realize that we can’t separate reason and rational thought from faith.

The Real Faith & Reason Library will

demolish the lies of ungodly thinkers. show why rational thought is impossible without faith. explain how we know without question that the Bible is true. reveal how we know personal revelation won’t conflict with the Bible. establish the truth on the only firm Foundation, Jesus Christ. answer the questions and objections of those who are hostile to Christ. teach how to discern between truth and error. understand how to sort through the many voices claiming authority. This library is a deep dive rather than a superficial explanation. It doesn’t create a stalemate where neither ungodly thinkers nor Christians can prove their points. Rather, it explains how to prove the truth of Christ and the Bible with absolute certainty, and it leaves the ungodly thinker with bare claims and fallacies.

Six Books in One

The Real Faith & Reason Library consists of six books. Three books focus on our rational thought journey as followers of Christ. One book focuses on the logic of the Nye-Ham Debate. Two books are reference texts you’ll want to keep on hand.    

Why Have a Real Faith & Reason Library?

Real Faith

Real faith has power. Real faith establishes our understanding of reality on a firm foundation. But fake faith is powerless and worthless. When this powerless faith is substituted for real faith, it’s dangerous and destructive. In a world regulated under a secularist, naturalist mindset, much of the church has slumped toward a kind of fake faith, a make-believe faith. Real faith isn’t pretending. Without the living Christ active in our lives, faith becomes a mental exercise in which we make ourselves believe in various things. Real faith isn’t a leap into the darkness that lands us in the light. Real faith is not belief without evidence. Real faith is supernatural assurance and knowledge of truth that comes when God speaks to us. Christ leads, teaches, and corrects everyone who will listen to Him and follow Him. Whoever seeks Him finds Him. All may come. He speaks through Scripture and every means mentioned in Scripture. So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. ~ Romans 10:17 King James Version If faith comes by hearing the word of Christ or the word of God, then it’s important for us to know what God means by “word of God.” What term was translated as “word?” It’s the Greek term “rhema.” What does “rhema” mean? Rhema means utterance. The NAS New Testament Greek Lexicon defines it as “that which is or has been uttered by the living voice, thing spoken, word.” It’s “any sound produced by the voice and having definite meaning.” It’s “speech, discourse, what one has said, a series of words joined together into a sentence (a declaration of one’s mind made in words), an utterance, a saying of any sort as a message, or a narrative.” Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. ~ Hebrews 12:2 Jesus authors our faith. He originates it. We don’t. He’s also the finisher or completer of our faith. Notice how different this is from the make-believe faith that skeptics call “belief without evidence.” Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. ~ Hebrews 11:1 King James Version What Greek term was in the original text that the King James translators rendered as “substance?” The Greek term is “hupostasis.” What does “hupostasis” mean? It means essence. It means reality as opposed to concept. What about “evidence?” What word is in the original text? The Greek word is “elegchos.” Elegchos is absolute proof. Therefore, real faith is absolute by nature. It’s absolute proof. It’s substance or reality. The reason it’s absolute and powerful is that Jesus Christ originates it. It comes when we hear the voice of God through Scripture. God speaks to us through Scripture. Through Scripture, He tells us about other methods beyond Scripture by which He speaks to us. Faith also comes when He speaks to us through those methods. By faith, we know that the Bible is the utterance of God without error. By faith, we know that God never contradicts Himself. That means that one Scripture never contradicts another Scripture. It also means that no other form of revelation will ever conflict with any part of Scripture. For instance, God will never state one truth through Scripture and contradict that truth by revealing something contradictory in His creation. That is to say, true scientific observation will never conflict with Scripture.

Real Reason

Real reason is also absolute. Real reason also goes beyond inductive reasoning that can only speak of probabilities. It goes beyond the pragmatism of science that never deals with truth but only with what works in the natural realm. Real reason goes beyond opinion to absolute knowledge of the truth. However, the intellectuals have told us that no one can know anything absolutely. We’ve been discouraged from seeking absolute truth. Sound reason requires true premises because we can’t use unproven claims to prove other claims. And yet, the secularists say that sound reason doesn’t require true premises. They say that we can begin reasoning by establishing assumptions on which we all agree. What are assumptions? They’re unknown beliefs that we accept as if we knew that they were true. They aren’t known, but we pretend that we know them. In a sense, we deceive ourselves when we assume. Without true premises, our reasoning isn’t sound. With inductive reasoning, we can only speak of probabilities. With true premises and valid deductive reasoning, we can advance to the knowledge of the truth. We can’t know everything, but we can know some things with certainty.

The Connection between Real Faith and Real Reason

If we have to start our reasoning with assumptions or presuppositions, we can never go beyond opinions. Our reasoning will never be stronger than our assumptions. Since assumptions are unknowns, where does that leave us? However, the real faith takes us beyond assumptions and presuppositions to substance, truth, and absolute proof. The real faith is able to do this because it comes from the utterance of God. This is the same utterance by which God brought the universe into existence. The wonder is that we can have this assurance and certainty right now. With that knowledge, we can reason rationally. We can have sound reasoning. We can know the truth and the truth will set us free.

Christ reveals Himself to every person up to a certain point. When a person continually refuses to thank Him and glorify Him as God, Christ will finally turn that person over to his or her own reprobate mind. This reprobate mind is the natural human mind that’s incapable of rational thought. It can think. It can rationalize beyond observation and experience only by making up stuff and pretending the made-up stuff is true. It can do science and make products based on observation and testing.

God may even give such a person a revelation from time to time to help them, but a person who is determined to deny God will attribute the revelation to his or her own genius or some other source. The human mind without the anointing of the Holy Spirit has no path to a true premise. So it continually tries to reason beyond the five natural senses by inserting made-up stuff (assumptions, axioms, bare claims, etc.) into the reasoning. From that made-up stuff, we get such philosophies as atheism, agnosticism, naturalism, secularism, rationalism, scientism, evolutionism, and socialism. From this form of reasoning, we get rationalizations to justify murder, sexual sins of various kinds, and breaking, bending, and distorting every command of God.

God still provides revelation, some of which such a person accepts and some of which such a person rejects. Without this revelation, the person would die, so God provides it out of mercy. But the ungodly thinker refuses to acknowledge God’s revelation and attributes the divine revelation to the same source from which the made-up stuff comes. In that process, the person loses the ability to tell the difference between divine revelation and make-believe. In other words, the person loses the ability to know the difference between reality and make-believe.

Such a person goes to great lengths to create a worldview in which God doesn’t exist, or God doesn’t communicate. This problem in reasoning isn’t limited to atheists. Christians and other religionists also do this. They may even follow demonic voices and various forms of conjuring yet have a naturalistic worldview regarding God. The variations are endless. The thing is that worldviews seem more real than real reality, so they blind us all to some extent.

On the other hand, those who follow Christ (when they do follow Christ) hear His voice. In other words, Christ is leading, teaching, and correcting us moment by moment. He speaks through Scripture and every means mentioned in Scripture. We have a progressive experience in which the fleshly nature is dying, and the Holy Spirit is forming Christ within us, which is the definition of spiritual maturity.

As we progress in maturity, our spiritual discernment becomes greater. We can better know the difference between God’s voice and all the others.

Satan will sometimes accuse us of not being able to tell the difference, and that’s a half-truth that leaves out the most important factor. The most important factor is that God is in control of both the revelation and the discernment of the revelation. He provides both. He knows who has a sincere heart and who doesn’t. (I’m trying to explain the walk of a Christ-follower in broad terms.)

It’s personal and real. No Christ-follower can prove his or her walk to a skeptic through reasoning. However, if the Christ-follower speaks or writes by the power of the Holy Spirit, the skeptic is dealing directly with Christ rather than dealing with the Christ-follower. “Whoever listens to you listens to Me; whoever rejects you rejects Me; and whoever rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me.” Luke 10:16

As for the person who has blocked God from his or her consciousness, all is not hopeless. Such a person can at any time control his or her own will. Such a person can direct that will toward Christ in sincerity. Everyone who seeks Christ in this way will find Christ. I don’t say that it will be easy since a well-developed worldview and slavery to the fleshly nature, the world systems, and the subtle demonic influences aren’t easily overcome. But if such a person persists in seeking Christ, that person will find Christ. They will be born again. They’ll experience a change in their spirit, a joining to the Holy Spirit in a way that we don’t fully understand. From that point, the battle is for the mind/soul and is a progressive experience.

If you don’t already know Him, I invite you to know Christ. Everyone who seeks Him finds Him.

Real Faith & Reason Library will be out soon. It’s a six-book set containing two reference texts. Real Reality, Inc. will be offering the ebook version for free. This is the kind of book you want to keep in your library for future reference. We also plan an audiobook, and we’re going to try to make that free as well.

Those who have been following Real Reality know that I will use physical/material evidence to refute various lies about origins, sexual immorality, or abortion. I may use Biblical evidence. In all cases, I focus on Christ Himself. In the physical/material, we’re limited to inductive reasoning, which is never a final answer. But we can know the truth with certainty. We can be certain about the truth through divine revelation. Jesus Christ is real. We know Him.

When dealing with lies, an interesting problem develops. The ungodly thinker bases every opinion on made-up stuff then tries to hide this problem with smokescreen fallacies. But the ungodly thinker can’t reason to a true premise. It’s impossible for ungodly thinking to go beyond the brute beast pragmatic existence of reacting to sense data without the ability to reason rationally. Ungodly thinking can reason, just not rationally.

An ungodly thinker sometimes runs into a follower of Christ. The follower of Christ testifies of his or her ongoing experience with the living Christ who now resides inside of him or her since he or she was born again. Actually, the living Christ has become joined to the Christ-follower’s spirit and ministers from there to the mind of the follower of Christ. Here’s the interesting and ironic part. The ungodly thinker who can’t even reason rationally about his or her observations and experiences now tries to reason about someone else’s observations and experiences. The ungodly thinker claims that the follower of Christ isn’t experiencing what he or she is experiencing. By doing so, the ungodly thinker is, in effect, claiming to be all-knowing.

That’s ironic, but what’s more ironic is that the ungodly thinker already knows that God exists. The triune God of the Bible has already revealed Himself to the ungodly thinker in many ways. So the ungodly thinker knows and is without excuse. The ungodly thinker even knows that coming to Christ would be like coming into the light. Many of the things and ideas that the ungodly thinker cherishes would be exposed to the light as Christ would begin leading, teaching and correcting the ungodly thinker who now has come to Christ. So the ungodly thinker chooses to reject Christ even though the ungodly thinker knows and is without excuse.

As a result, the ungodly thinker can no longer tell the difference between reality and make-believe. The ungodly thinker does receive divine revelation. If that weren’t the case, death would follow quite quickly. However, the ungodly thinker can’t tell the difference between divine revelation and the made-up stuff in the ungodly thinker’s worldview. It’s all the same to the ungodly thinker. That’s ironic.

On the other hand, Christ leads, teaches, and corrects the follower of Christ moment by moment. Christ teaches His followers that the Bible is His Word without error. He speaks to His followers through Scripture and through every means mentioned in Scripture. As a result, we can know some things with certainty.

We can know that the Scripture’s account of the Creation and the Flood events is accurate.

We can know that God speaks His promises, His plan of salvation, and His standards for morality through Scripture.

We can know that God’s promises are true.

We can know that God’s plan for salvation is real and absolute.

We can know that God’s standards for morality are correct.

Real Faith & Reason Library will be out soon. It’s a six-book set containing two reference texts. Real Reality, Inc. will be offering the ebook version for free. This is the kind of book you want to keep in your library for future reference. We also plan an audiobook, and we’re going to try to make that free as well.

Scientists learn through observation. However, they can’t repeatedly observe or test the past. This fact drives evolutionists nuts, so they come up with weird rationalizations to try to get around this. They’ll say, “When we look into the sky, we’re looking into the past.” Well, that MIGHT be true, but we can’t test the one-way speed of light. But let’s pretend, for a moment, that we are looking into the past. We still can’t observe the animals being made. We still can’t observe the earth being formed. We still can’t observe the universe coming into existence. Those are stories and they either consist of divine revelation or made-up stuff. God has revealed some detail about these events, but we don’t have a way to go beyond what God reveals and still be sane.

Science works quite well when it leads to a product that we can test. For instance, science leads to a cell phone. The cell phone either works, or it doesn’t. We can also extrapolate, but then we start adding to the words that Jesus is saying through what we observe and experience. Extrapolation adds information to what Jesus is saying. That information ultimately comes from one of three places. What we can’t sense from our natural senses comes either from our own imagination, demonic influence, or divine revelation. As Christ said, “Those who are on the side of truth listen to Me.” And He said, “My sheep hear My voice.” Scientists do get information beyond what they observe.

Even ungodly scientists who don’t know Christ get information beyond what they observe, and they can get it from these three sources. That is, God reveals natural and spiritual truth to every person through the things that they observe in His creation. (Romans 1) For instance, He reveals Himself and everything that we can know about Him and the Godhead through His creation. We accept parts of what He reveals. We reject other parts. Sometimes we acknowledge Him and give Him the glory. Sometimes we fail to acknowledge Him and glorify Him. Some people always fail to acknowledge Him and glorify Him.

Some people try to extrapolate from what God has revealed through Scripture and His creation. They try to guess about amazing speculations such as the method by which God created all things or the specific nature of the image of God. We’ll fully understand how God created all things one day. We’ll fully understand the nature of God. Now, we do know that God is working all things together for His good purpose. His purpose is that we be formed into the image of His Son. (Romans 8:28) We know that as we all, with the fleshly veil removed from our eyes, look at the glory of the Lord as if looking into a mirror, are transfigured into the same image from glory to glory by the Holy Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:18) We may not be able to comprehend the greatness of that yet, but we can already sense and experience the transforming power of the Holy Spirit.

The Reason Collection will be out soon. Watch for it. This five-volume set contains two reference texts and three additional books. It’s over 1,000 pages 8.5 inches X 11 inches with full-color images, so the print version will be fairly expensive regardless of how hard Petros tries to keep the cost down. Petros has agreed to allow us to distribute the eBook free. That’s a tremendous addition to your library. Keep your eyes open for it as we don’t have a definite release date yet.

A chain of thought is only as strong as its weakest link.

We can know the truth since Jesus is available, and whoever seeks Him finds Him.

Jesus isn’t a theory, concept, or theology. He’s real, and He speaks through Scripture and every means mentioned in Scripture.

The ungodly have no path to a true premise or sound reasoning, but what God reveals is true, and He’s well able to impart certainty to those who listen to Him in submission.

I think this set of books will turn the world upside-down because it takes the rules of logic seriously—rules that the whole world has been ignoring for millennia.

You can know for certain that Jesus Christ is real, is good, and is your Savior.

You can know for certain that the Bible is God’s word without error.

We can know that Christ is God, and the Bible is true, but no path to rational thought exists without Christ.

We can know for certain that Christ is God, and the Bible is true, but ungodly thinkers can’t know anything for certain.

As a follower of Christ, you can be fully rational as long as you never go beyond what God reveals, but ungodly thinkers can’t be rational to discuss anything beyond the information that comes from their five senses.

Real Faith & Reason Library will be out soon. It’s a six-book set containing two reference texts. Real Reality, Inc. will be offering the ebook version for free. This is the kind of book you want to keep in your library for future reference. We also plan an audiobook, and we’re going to try to make that free as well.

We could discuss origins and debate continually without coming to a final conclusion. There is no silver bullet in this argument. Note how dogmatic those who oppose your own position can be. They don’t quit no matter what you say. One of the problems is that science is inductive rather than deductive. The answers of science are never absolute. There’s no such thing as settled science since tomorrow’s discovery could overturn today’s opinion. And yet, we can use science if the science actually produces a product that we can test. Origins science doesn’t produce products we can test.

I’m not concerned with knowledge if it’s not knowledge of the truth. Truth is absolute and exclusive by nature. It’s reality itself. It’s very different from opinion. There are two ways we can reason. We can reason based on presuppositions/assumptions/made-up stuff, or we can reason based on divine revelation.

God speaks through Scripture and every means mentioned in Scripture. For instance, He speaks through His creation as we see in Romans one. But He also says not to add to His words, or He’ll expose us as liars. Why? Because there are two possible foundations for reason. One is divine revelation with nothing added. The other is made-up stuff by whatever name we call the made-up stuff.

Axioms consist of made-up stuff that is so much a part of our worldviews that we think they’re obvious. And yet we can’t observe them. They aren’t divine revelation.

I’m learning to discern God’s voice. I’m learning to discern the difference between His voice and my own voice or all the other voices in the world. Christ leads every person who follows Him. He leads us moment by moment in every situation. We hear His voice, but we have trouble with discernment right now. We need to seek His face and turn all our hardened beliefs over to Him. Hold tightly to Him and hold our theories and theologies loosely. He’s the only source of truth, so only in Him can we think rationally. Without that, we’re at the level of brute beasts as the apostle Jude said.

So, I seek Him and His righteousness. If you don’t have that relationship with Him in which He leads, teaches, and corrects you moment by moment in every situation, I invite you to know Him in this way. Everyone who seeks Him finds Him. He won’t give a serpent to the one who asks for a fish. If you seek Christ, you’ll get Christ. He’ll then begin leading you into all truth just as He’s leading all who humble themselves before Him. If you already have that relationship, I want to encourage you to continue to allow Him to take you to higher heights and deeper depths in Him.