“You believe in god who is an immoral monster because your god permits slavery.” This is the accusation of atheists and the secular world promoting such an agnostic, negative, and distorted view of God in classrooms, in movies, and the internet. Secularism is in full attack on the Christian faith accusing the God of the Bible and Christianity for bringing chattel slavery to the world. However, slavery existed in every nation throughout the world when Great Britain and the United States were passing Slave Acts and ended unjust slavery by Christian influence.

            The Bible condemns enslaving others. Paul observed in 1 Timothy 1 that the Law is just for condemning the stealing of men as Paul wrote this in reference to the sin of enslaving others (1 Tim 1:10). The Law of Moses taught, “Whoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found in possession of him, shall be put to death” (Exod 21:16 ESV; cf. Deut 24:7). Enslavement was a serious crime against God’s Law that is worthy of death.

            The Law of Moses commanded that no one return runaway slaves. Moses instructed, “You shall not give up to his master a slave who has escaped from his master to you. He shall dwell with you, in your midst, in the place that he shall choose within one of your towns, wherever it suits him. You shall not wrong him” (Deut 23:15–16). The Bible does not permit unjust slavery.

            The Bible is no more wrong than every nation who forces criminals and debtors to labor to pay their debts. God did and does permit a just form of bond-service for thieves and war captives (Exod 22:2–3; Lev 25:44–46; Deut 20:10–15). The U.S.’s 13th Amendment did not make all slavery illegal and reflects the biblical position on slavery when it states, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, […].”

            Some assert that the Bible grants bondservants no rights. However, Moses commanded, “When a man strikes the eye of his slave, male or female, and destroys it, he shall let the slave go free because of his eye. If he knocks out the tooth of his slave, male or female, he shall let the slave go free because of his tooth” (Exod 21:26–27). God also commanded the execution of those who murdered bondservants (Exod 21:20–27). Furthermore, sexual relationships with bondservants were forbidden unless by free-will marriage and the spouse must treat the other as a spouse and not as a servant (Lev 19:20; cf. Exod 21:9–11). Bondservants did represent the money and property that they paid for them to cover their debts, but this did not remove their rights (Exod 21:21).

            The Law commanded that no one oppress anyone from another land and ethnicity (Lev 19:34; Deut 24:14). Some Israelites could sell oneself as a bondservant to work for no more than seven years (Lev 25:10, 39–40). God commanded the managers to treat those sold as hired servants and not to rule over them ruthlessly (Lev 25:39, 43). When a servant was released, the Law of Moses commanded the manager to send them away with abundant supplies of flocks, wheat, and wine (Deut 15:12–14).

            The New Testament Scriptures warned masters to give fairly to their servants (Eph 6:9; Col 4:1). The apostle Paul taught that the slave and the freedman are nothing but one in Christ (Gal 3:28; cf. Phile). Paul encouraged bondservants to seek freedom but otherwise to obey their masters (1 Cor 7:21–24; Col 3:22; 1 Tim 6:1–2; 1 Pet 2:18).

            Everyone is a slave to something or someone. Whether in bondage or free, Christians are no longer slaves to sin but bondservants to Jesus Christ (1 Cor 7:20–24; 12:13; Gal 3:26–28). For this, Christians thank God and rejoice!

“A loving God would not create Hell for people whom He foreknew would do evil.” Why not? As the Creator and Source of everything, God is the Source of all justice. God is just to send those who do evil and live in rebellion against God to Hell (Matt 13:37–43). God also graciously provides a way that all may turn from evil. God loves all and wants everyone to repent and be saved (1 Tim 2:4; 2 Pet 3:9).

            God created humanity with free will and yet humanity sins. All have sinned (Rom 3:23; 5:12). Sinners kindle their own fire (Isa 50:11). Each person's actions condemns oneself to Hell (John 3:18–20; Rom 2:1–11; 5:12, 16, 18). For eternal sins, there is no injustice for those who reject God to receive eternal condemnation. Those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel “will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might” (2 Thess 1:9 ESV).

            Jesus preached more about Hell than anyone in the Bible. Jesus taught an eternal punishment as He declared, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt 25:41b). Jesus reported, “And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Matt 25:46). Jesus confirmed Isaiah's description of an unending Hell, “where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:48; cf. Isa 66:24). He proclaimed that Hell is just, and each unrepentant sinner will receive their just stripes (Luke 12:47–48).

            The apostle John revealed that Hell is torment without rest existing forever for those who worshipped the Beast, a violent persecutor of the church. John noted, “And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name” (Rev 14:11).

            Eternal Hell is justified for eternal sins. The eternal God made every human in His likeness. People profane the holy nature of the eternal God by sinning and rejecting everlasting life from God’s Son, so they as eternal spirits separate themselves from God for everlasting punishment. The person who continues to sin willfully “has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace” (Heb 10:29).

            Eternal punishment is right for sins committed in and against one's body. Hell is not merely spiritual but also a bodily torment. Jesus warned, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matt 10:28; cf. Mark 9:41–48). Jesus confirmed that the wicked will bodily resurrect to condemnation (John 5:28–29; cf. Dan 12:2).

            Many people dismiss God and choose Hell because they love sin (John 3:19–20). The real reason that people judge God and dismiss an eternal Hell is for their agnostic, negative, and distorted view of God and Christ. They judge God as a mere person rather than the eternal Being, the Creator of everything, and the Source of all goodness. One must have an ultimate and objective moral standard to judge the holy God, but God is the only absolute standard. A person’s arbitrary morals will not stand before God. 

            God loves all people while yet sinners, and Jesus came and died for all (John 3:16; Rom 5:8). By Christ, repentant believers have hope of resurrecting to eternal life (John 6:40; Rom 8:23–25; Titus 3:7). Thank God for sending Jesus, "the Christ," to save us from an everlasting Hell!

“If God is all-powerful and all-loving, then God should stop all the evil and suffering in the world.” While this judgment of God may be convincing for some and a struggle for many who doubt, one should think of the implications. How can God give free will and yet remove the consequences of free will? God could change every bullet fired for murder into bubbles and all knives used for an assault into rubber. God could send an angel to stop every great human tragedy. However, if every act of evil concluded with neutral or positive effects, then evil no longer reveals the depth of its depravity. The reality of evil will become distorted before human eyes.

            Evil, death, and suffering have come into this world by the sin of humanity (Rom 5). Removing all evil removes free will and its consequences. Such a world would not allow the coming of a heavenly paradise to exist where good people by free will make good choices and live together by loving one’s neighbor. Instead, many want this present world to become a “paradise” where free choice has no real effect and where causality no longer applies. Such a world exists without logic, science, morality, consequences, or the need for any good actions and thus negate love.

            Why does God allow evil? God allows evil to a great extent for the complete and ultimate destruction of evil and sin through Jesus Christ (Col 2:13–15; Heb 2:14–18; 1 John 3:8). God allows suffering to communicate that the greatest tragedy in this life is temporary and minimal compared to God’s overwhelming recovery from the hurt that each person endures in this life. God allows great suffering for those who suffer greatly can experience the grace of God that gives peace in Jesus Christ (Rom 8:16; Phil 1:27–30; Jas 1:2–4). God allows evil and suffering as God’s grace strengthens a person’s character through suffering that cannot exist without suffering (Rom 5:3–5; 8:16, 28; 2 Cor 12:7–10).

            God allows evil and that allows the greatest acts of good — repentance, mercy, compassion, forgiveness, comfort, and relief — that cannot exist otherwise (Luke 5:32; 6:20–49). God gives free will and the ability for humanity to choose to flee sin and pursue holy living rather than living in a world with no real consequences for one’s actions (Rom 6:15–23). God allows evil so that people who sin can continue living by God’s mercy and have opportunity to repent because God loves all and wants everyone to repent and be saved (1 Tim 2:4; 2 Pet 3:9).

            God resolves suffering justly and overcomes death in Jesus’s resurrection. God will give eternal life by restoring creation from corruption and decay (Rom 8:18–25). This restoration includes the redemption of the faithful by bodily resurrecting from the dead (1 Cor 15:53; 2 Cor 4:17).

            The atheistic worldview is always in a continuum of collapsing so that unbelievers are always struggling to hold onto morality, meaning, causality, and reality. The atheistic perspective of reality often sets people opposing “evil” while “good” is often changing for them and denying any ultimate reality of good and evil. Secular society is always questioning and overturning every moral position. Isaiah prophesied, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” (Isa 5:20).

            Thank God that He will make all things right. God is the Source of all good for God is love (1 John 4:8, 16). By Christ laying down His life for all, every believer can know God’s love and so love others (1 John 3:16).

“Research shows… Historians recognize… If you could read… [something]” so people argue various points of view, and few are challenged to change their minds. What use are academic papers demonstrating reasons to believe in God and Christ if the common Christian cannot apply them in their conversations. Christians need a defense of the faith that one could write on a business card and is handy enough to stick in one’s pocket.

            The Christian must recognize that not everyone is going to believe and that those who will consider the evidence for the faith must have a reasonable view of God (Acts 17:22–31). A person must be willing to consider with honesty the self-evident facts. The apostle Paul revealed, “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse” (Rom 1:20 ESV). The Christian can help those willing to consider God by keeping five reasons (more or less) to demonstrate the reasonable faith in God and Christ.

Here are 5 reasons to believe:

1. Cause and Effect: The universe must have a cause that is greater than itself. The cause of the universe must be greater in power, create order, and exist beyond the universe and its natural laws. Therefore, the cause of the universe must be by definition the supernatural Creator. Furthermore, the creation of the universe is the first miracle that proves that God does miracles.

2. Design: As the complex order of a smartphone being greater than a pencil demonstrates intelligent design, so the complex order of biology being greater than human inventions demonstrates intelligent design. Otherwise, everything exists by random chance or determined by the necessity of purposeless laws. Creation reveals God’s eternal power and divine nature.

3. Logic: Without God, no objective standards for logic could exist, because logic cannot discover logic without logic, create itself, or exist outside the mind. Therefore, logic exists constantly and eternally, so logic reveals God’s divine nature.

4. Morality: Without God, no objective values for morality could exist because morality would then be subject to some arbitrary foundation of self, society and, or instinct. However, objective moral values exist, God must exist who is the source of morality, and thus universal morality reveals God’s divine nature as love (1 John 3:16; 4:8, 16).

5. Witnesses: Various doubters and unbelievers witnessed Jesus resurrected from the dead and that changed their lives (1 Cor 15:1–11). The church could only begin and exist because of the witnesses of Jesus’s death, burial, and resurrection. Furthermore, Peter proclaimed predictions of Jesus’s resurrection, Jesus’s empty tomb, and witnesses as evidence of Jesus’s resurrection (Acts 2:14–36).

“I feel helpless. I can’t persuade anyone of anything about God and Jesus.” The Bible has equipped Christians for every good work (2 Tim 3:16–17). However, many believers need training from their leaders faithfully to engage the world of unbelief (Eph 4:11–13).

            Jude taught Christians to “have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh” (Jude 1:22 ESV). Christians are loving and merciful for snatching doubters from the fire of Hell. Because all must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, the apostle Paul revealed, “Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others” (2 Cor 5:11b).

            Christians are capable of waging spiritual warfare against arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God (2 Cor 10:4–5). Victory is to take captive every thought to the obedience of Christ. However, many Christians are not thoughtful and considerate about their faith to engage the foolishness of anything being significant without God.

            A child may believe that a monster lives under their bed because he hears noises and imagines what is in the darkness under his bed. A friend may think that aliens have visited him because he saw a strange light in the sky and heard whispers around his house. Possibilities are not the best explanations for reality. Many doubt because they accept a possibility over what is reasonable.

            Does life emerge from nonliving material? No. No one has observed a spontaneous generation of life. The scientific Law of Biogenesis affirms the common and unanimous observations that life does not naturally arise from nonliving material. Someone could reason that life could possibly begin in certain circumstances, but reasoning upon possibilities is a logical fallacy. Living according to possibilities is absurd, irrational, anxious, and obsessive.

            The possibility that the universe created itself from nothing, formed from a multiverse generator, or existed from an infinite past are not reasonable. No one sees things popping into existence from nothing. No sees natural laws or complex order forming from an unintelligent generator. Nothing within the universe can exist from an infinite time in the past, because then the infinite past could never reach the present reality.

            Most people want to believe the best explanation for reality, and the best explanation for the beginning of the life-permitting universe is God. The most reasonable explanation for the origin of life is God. Believers of God stand upon the only reasonable view of reality. Furthermore, Christians can persuade by reasoning from the creative power and divine nature of God as demonstrated through what is created (Rom 1:20). Evidently, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Prov 1:7). How can anyone reason upon the causes and effects of the universe by denying the first Cause, the Creator, who must have existed before and beyond natural laws?

            Begin with “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen 1:1). What can people know about the Creator of the universe? The Creator must exist before and beyond the universe and its natural laws. The Creator made everything including intelligent human life in His likeness as the Creator must be intelligent. The Creator must be God who is greater and more powerful than the universe that He created. Thank God for He makes sense of all of His creation!

“Why do I doubt my faith?” People doubt in different ways. Some honestly doubt by asking questions and struggle to find answers. Others doubt because they do not want to believe something that goes against their desires and ambitions. While these two types of doubt are often very far apart, someone may experience both questions and temptations to sin. In the case of questioning, John the Baptist questioned if Jesus was the Christ but that is not necessarily doubt (Matt 11:1–7).

            Doubts vary. Some doubt is very harmful. James revealed that the person who doubts God is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind (Jas 1:6). However, some forms of doubt are a part of growing as a believer. The father of young boy pleaded with Jesus to do anything to save his son. Jesus urged him, “If you can! All things are possible for one who believes” (Mark 9:23). The father cried out, “I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24).

            While walking on the sea, Peter doubted and began to sink when he experienced the winds in the midst of the storm (Matt 14:28–33). Jesus spoke to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” Those who doubt in a manner of questioning often feel anxiety that can result in disruptive doubt and fear causing obsessive behavior. A person may be overly concerned with “What if this happens?” For example, some people live in some fear or anxiety of crossing bridges in fair weather and avoid bridges. Many reasonably fear to see hurricane-like winds beat against a bridge. Most people live according to probability based on common experience, so they don't fear what some do.

            Some Christians doubt the faith that their parents and Bible teachers have delivered to them. They think that they might be wrong. Sometimes, they struggle with the possibility that the universe popped into existence from nothing, life spontaneously generated and evolved, and Jesus could have been an exaggerated figure in history. They seek and struggle to find answers. However, most come to see that these skeptical ideas are not reasonable and not the best explanation for reality.

            Christ has given evidence of Himself if a person is ready to accept a reasonable view of God (cf. John 5:30–47; 8:17–18; Acts 1:3). Jesus declared, “If anyone's will is to do God's will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority” (John 7:17).

            Thomas doubted Jesus’s resurrection but he was ready to accept the evidence. Thomas declared, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe” (John 20:25b). Jesus responded to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe” (John 20:27; cf. Luke 24:38). Therefore, Thomas confessed, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28). However, Jesus concluded, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29).

            The apostles first doubted the evidence of Jesus’s resurrection that they would declare to the world, and Jesus rebuked them for not believing the evidence of witnesses (Mark 16:14). Both Peter and Paul would preach the predictions of Jesus’s resurrection, the empty tomb, and the witnesses of Jesus’s resurrection (Acts 2:14–36; 13:26–41; 1 Cor 15:1–11).

            With a reasonable view of God, everyone is reasonable to believe that Jesus is the exact image of God. Thank God that Jesus has given many proofs!

“Your belief is a blind faith.” Some speak of the Christian faith as standing on nothing when a person believes despite any evidence. However, this is the opposite of the Christian faith.

            The apostle Paul formed his arguments from a reasonable view of God. In Acts 17, Paul observed that those in Athens did not know their “unknown God” of whom they had built an altar. Paul spoke to them of the Creator who “made the world and everything in it” (Acts 17:24).

            Paul did not present his case for God by citing biblical texts to the Athenians who would not have accepted such texts as an authority. However, Paul taught them a reasonable view of God that came from the Scriptures. Paul began his points saying, “The God who made […],” “He made […],” and “He is not actually far from each one of us […],” and “The times of ignorance God overlooked […].” The apostle described a reasonable view of God and led his audience to the point of Jesus’s resurrection (Acts 17:31).

            Paul’s arguments were proclamations and more reasonable than a simple syllogism. Paul first proposed God and described a reasonable view of God. Logicians often formulate an argument using a syllogism similar to a math equation of 2+1=3. The number 2 represents the major premise often consisting of a two-fold condition such as “If the universe began, the universe must have a greater cause.” Furthermore, the minor premise as the number 1 may note a single fact such as "The universe began." Lastly, number 3 is the sum of the premises to reach a reasonable conclusion, “The universe must have a greater cause.” However, the logician must add other details to the argument to reveal that the greater cause is most reasonably the supernatural Creator. Unlike a formal syllogism, Paul made use of enthymemes as arguments which are arguments with unstated premises. Paul's arguments do not begin from an agnostic view but a reasonable view of God.

            Christians often speak about God today like Paul, “God is… because / so…” We usually first describe a quality of God and conclude something about reality. For instance, one might declare, “God is the all-powerful Creator who created the universe, because we know the universe cannot come from nothing.” The Christian may also say something like "God made the universe in the beginning because the universe is balanced just right for intelligent life that could not come to exist by chance.”

            Faith does not mean that Christians have no reason for their faith in God. Believers have every reason to believe in God who sent His Son to give eternal life to the faithful. The Christian who shares their faith and the gospel can naturally present the truth and may make a case like the apostle Paul. The faithful can learn a lot more from observing how Jesus taught and the apostles presented the truth about God and Christ. From my perspective, Christians would best proclaim a reasonable view of God to an unbeliever including God's coming judgment assured by resurrecting Jesus from the dead. Eventually, one can lead them to the witnesses of Jesus’s life, death, burial, and resurrection (1 Cor 15:1–11). No matter how others may mock, the Christian faith stands on greater evidence than any secular or religious worldview.

“You can’t think the Bible is true with its unscientific story for the creation of the universe.” Many people think the Earth is about 4.5 billion years old as scientific fact attested by most scientists. Furthermore, many academics including believers assert that the first book of the Bible speaks of how God created the universe in figurative details. Old-earth creationists perceive that the Bible attests to some facts including that God created the universe, a habitable earth, life, and man and woman in His image. However, they claim little beyond these points in the Genesis account.

            Both young-earth and old-earth views of creation have difficulty understanding the other position. Both old-earth and young-earth creationists recognize science as observations of God's revelation by His creation. The apostle Paul revealed, “For His invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse” (Rom 1:20). Paul appears to have spoken from a young-earth perspective that humanity has been able to perceive God’s nature and power from the Creation.

            One of the problems that old-earth creationists must address is Jesus’s affirmation: “But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’” (Mark 10:6; cf. Matt 19:4). The reader can see that Jesus referenced Genesis as factual and that God created humanity from the beginning of creation. Other problems for old-earth creationists include Moses’s interpretation of his creation account in Genesis: “For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day” (Exod 20:11; cf. 31:17). Furthermore, old-earth creationists need to explain the 9 billion year gap between the creation of heaven and earth in Genesis 1:1. The Bible does not say God created the heavens and 9 billion years later the earth. Old-earth creationists see these passages as figurative rather than literal including God’s creation of “the heavens and the earth” as an idiom for God creating the universe and that God would eventually form the earth.

            The problems that young-earth creationists must account are the age of rocks on the Earth, the distance of starlight, and geologic layers. However, most young creationists see these as supporting the Genesis account of creation. From a literal interpretation, Genesis 1 reveals that God created a mature and habitable Earth, used rapid progress sometimes to set things like starlight in order, and set the laws for each stage of creation in its completion. For instance, Genesis reports that God created a habitable earth implying the formation of mature rocks, the growth of vegetation to maturity in a day, caused starlight to appear in a day, and created man and woman fully developed in a day. From the creation days forward, God’s creation followed its God-given natural order and laws. Today, the details in Genesis do account for a young universe deflecting any assumption of long ages from radiometric dating of rocks and the arrival of distant starlight. With modern advances in science, Genesis still accounts for the apparent nature and state of the Earth.

            The scientific revolution began via creationists, and today's biblical creationist has nothing to fear. The biblical account of Creation between 6300 and 7500 years ago stands. No need exists to reinterpret the biblical text to harmonize God's creation with secular assumptions about the universe. Because God is the best explanation for the universe, scientists better advance the more they recognize God’s nature in design and His power to sustain the universe and life by natural laws that He set and upholds by His Word (Heb 1:3; 11:3). Thank God for the Bible! No biblical creationist needs to accept secular assumptions for the origin and formation of the universe.

“Why should I adore God?” “Why is God worthy of worship?” “Why should I worship someone who demands that I worship Him?” Each of these questions makes presuppositions about God. Many people speak of God as those He is another faulty person. What they do not recognize is that God by definition is the maximally eternal Being and Creator of the universe. As far as the existence of morality, God is the lawgiver because He is the definer of right and wrong. He is the standard by His own unique nature — His holiness. Throughout these articles on holiness, God’s holiness challenges all to know who He is.

            The more that we know God then the more we come to adore, honor, and worship God. God is holy, holy, holy according to the prophet Isaiah (Isa 6:3). Isaiah observed, “But the Lord of hosts is exalted in justice, and the Holy God shows himself holy in righteousness” (Isa 5:16). Isaiah described God as the One who is high and lifted inhabiting eternity as His name is holy (Isa 57:15).

            The reaction to God’s glory, majesty, and holiness is worship. Christians admire God for how abundantly good and amazingly powerful that He is. In the Book of Revelation, God’s martyrs worshiped God declaring, “Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed” (Rev 15:4). The fear of God is the beginning of knowledge (Prov 1:7).

            The Bible reveals God’s nature as uniquely set apart from all creation. God is Spirit (John 4:24). In the beginning, God’s Spirit hovered over the face of the waters of the earth in the beginning of the Creation (Gen 1:2). David taught that nothing could escape God’s Spirit (Ps 139:7).

            No one should think that they can fully understand God or think that they can physically observe God who is the Creator of the universe. For this reason, believers greatly admire God. The faithful are amazed at the attributes of God in creation. God's greatness and holiness humble and yet comforts believers. God is able to comfort. He is the God of all comfort (2 Cor 1:3). God declared, "I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite" (Isa 57:15).

            God desires to help humanity who have separated from Him by sin (Isa 59:1–3). As God shows Himself holy in righteousness, God’s word is perfect (Ps 19:7; cf. Isa 5:16). The apostle Paul observed, “The law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good” (Rom 7:12). Sin came alive by the law, deceived, and produced death (Rom 7:9–11; cf. 3:19–20). God’s law is holy and reveals sin (Rom 7:13–14). However, God demonstrated His own righteousness in Jesus Christ to justify believers by His gift of grace (Rom 3:19–26).

            From the beginning, humanity needed a Savior and Rescuer from sin (Rom 5). God’s holiness demonstrates His righteousness, justice, mercy, and grace (cf. Isa 5:16). Worship God for He is holy. “For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed” (Rev 15:4).

Have you ever been to the weight room in the gym? You don’t know what to do the first time that you go. “What do I lift?” "How do I lift it?” “How much should I lift?” You need a trainer or instructor to use the weights and other equipment properly. You may need a physician or physical therapist’s guidance for you to produce results and avoid injuries. Training needs teaching and guidance. The Bible teaches that Christians need training in self-control to live holy lives.

            Do you pray for the wisdom to live a holy life? The apostle Paul prayed to God for the Christians in Thessalonica to increase in love for one another and to establish their hearts blameless in holiness (1 Thess 3:11–13). Paul revealed that God’s will is that Christians be holy and abstain from sexual immorality — sex outside of marriage (1 Thess 4:3, 7).

            Paul pleaded with Christians to cleanse themselves from every defilement of the body and spirit bringing holiness to completion (2 Cor 7:1). Holiness includes the body. Some people say that the body does not matter and that they can do anything that they want with their bodies. They say that they will not need their bodies after they die and their only going to become ashes. However, the subtle recognition that their body is their body and identifying as “me” as the body admits that the body is meant for more.

            The gospel promises bodily resurrection from the dead (John 6:40; 1 Cor 15:53). The apostle Paul made this point when he declared, "And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never!" (1 Cor 6:14–15 ESV). The Greek pornei for “prostitute” may refer to any woman having sex outside of marriage. Paul explained that sex outside of marriage is contrary to God’s institution of marriage when “the two will become one flesh” (1 Cor 6:16). Those joined to the Lord should not be joined in an unholy state to another person in sex. Paul noted that this sin is against the body (1 Cor 6:18). God made the body for the Lord not for sexual immorality (1 Cor 6:13).

            By the gospel, sin no longer enslaves believers (Rom 6:7). Jesus died to sin and His followers must do the same (Rom 6:8–11). For this reason, Paul declared, “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions" (Rom 6:12). How does someone do this? The Christian must present oneself as a servant to God everywhere and all the time. The servant of God must present the members of one's body to service for righteousness unto holiness (Rom 6:19).

            For this reason, the apostle Paul noted that for one to have self-control then that person must discipline the body. Holiness necessitates training for the body. Paul observed that running and boxing require training and discipline (1 Cor 9:24–26). Likewise, he wrote, “But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified” (1 Cor 9:27).

            The faithful are set free from sin to be servants of God. The fruit of that freedom is the process of becoming holy and its completion is eternal life (Rom 6:22). Therefore, the baptized believer must commit oneself as a bondservant of Jesus Christ to become holy and receive eternal life (Rom 6:22–23). A person must cleanse oneself to be of honorable use to God (2 Tim 2:20–21).

            Thank God for He is gracious and merciful showing every believer the way to live a holy and pure life.