The convergence and divergence of Islam and Christianity

Theological Similarities

We both believe in a transcendent, incompletely comprehensible God who is beyond space and time which he created, and who gives meaning to reality. We are made for him.

We believe in a terrifying Day of Judgment when the everyone will be judged according to the deeds he has done on earth, both good and bad.

We believe in an enemy of man, Shaitan or Satan, who is actively trying to entice men to sin and disbelief in God.

We believe in the spirit world and in the significant influence of good and bad spirits.

We share theological conundrums such as the Problem of Evil, Free Will and Determinism, and the challenge of hermeneutics and interpretation of our scripture.

We both value balance and eschew oversimplified black-and-whiteness on issues.

We both emphasize charity, generosity, hospitality, community, family, morality, temperance, prudence, modesty, integrity, and love for God and man.

We believe that God determines everything that happens, both good and evil, pleasurable and painful. He uses everything according to his higher purpose: to bring us to the point where we yield our trust and hope to him.

We believe God chooses based on his divine right to whom he will grant mercy and to whom he will not.

We believe that since God controls all outcomes, the role and responsibility of man is that of his intentions or decisions. He wants us to choose to him. The choices of our hearts throughout life define us and our outcome on the Day of Judgment.

We call men to this choice of God, but we admit that their obedience to God’s commandments is insufficient, no matter how valiant our effort. We know that deeds are a futile attempt to please God and thus we depend on his mercy.

The Worldview of Islam

Islam, or submission, implies harmony and peace deriving from the proper order of things. It’s being who one is supposed to be.

Man begins good, but the world and Shaitan corrupt him inevitably—every man chooses to disobey God.

The solution to this is to repent from sin and obey the revealed will of the Creator, operating in grateful worship, concordance with his statutes, and humble dependence on him.

This is accomplished by:

recognizing the One True God for who he is (tawheed)
acknowledging God’s sovereignty in your everyday life
obeying his commandments (most essentially the five pillars)
avoiding sins

Because he cannot perfectly avoid sin and obey God, one’s hope to receive God’s mercy is on the basis of sincere intention of the heart. In other words: doing the best he can possibly do to obey God’s commandments out of a humble, grateful desire to please God, keeping his motivations purged of selfish ambition, desire to manipulate God for your benefit, or secret hesitation, as much as he is able.

Repentance is paramount—God loves repentance more than no repentance with no sin in the first place. Repentance is rooted in humility and gratitude, the two legs of sincerity.

There is no guarantee that one will be accepted by God; however, God is very merciful, and according to one hadith, on the Day of Judgment he will give 99 times the mercy that he has given over the whole history of the earth.

If one’s good deeds outweigh his bad deeds on the day of judgment, God is likely to admit him to paradise.

If one’s bad deeds outweigh his good deeds, he will be put into hellfire for a short or long time based on God’s divine will and the severity of his sins, until they are paid for by suffering.

All but the most corrupt of the corrupt, who have never had the slightest inkling of belief in God, will eventually enter paradise.

Christians Say We’re Much Worse Off

One’s intentions will never will be as sincere as they must be to please God.

One’s good deeds must not weigh out to be 51% or greater, but rather 100%, because:

The judgment for a single sin is more severe that the most torturous prison sentence –it is the death penalty. The slightest imperfection is absolutely and permanently separated from God.

God’s self-imposed justice binds him from passing over unrequited sin.

The Christian Solution (The Heartbeat of Our Faith)

God must have payment for sin.

The only way he can transfer this payment without violating his justice is to receive an equal value in a form agreed upon by the plaintiff (God). No natural man can pay for another man’s sin, because all of mankind is the defendant.
Thus God took it upon himself to pay the penalty—“separation from God” (i.e. himself)
He made part of himself man and cut that part off (separated him) from the rest of himself for an eternal instant, which he (accurately) deemed equal or greater in value.

Jesus Christ is that part of God made manifest.

Man benefits from this by believing fully that Jesus Christ is the only hope for his justification before God (similar to how Muslims believe the shahaddah) who was truly sent from God and ordained by God as the only chosen method of escape.

Those who believe that God himself paid for their sins through the Jesus Christ, and entrust their hope and their life to him, are covered by his wing on the Day of Judgment. And anything or anyone not covered by God’s wing on the Day of Judgment will receive permanent requital.

The lion’s pit (a parable)

In an old kingdom there once was a man who was convicted of murdering a woman. The man was a wealthy man, and requested that bail be set, but, because of the seriousness of the crime, the king ruled that there should be neither payment nor parole, and ruled that the convict was to suffer capital punishment by being cast into the den of a hungry lion.

The man’s best friend, who was as close to him as a brother, stood up in the back of the court and cried out, “Please, O King, let me be thrown into the pit instead of him!”

But the king refused, saying, “This man must bear his own penalty, according to his own deeds. It is not fitting to punish the innocent and let the guilty go free.”

The friend replied, “At least let me be thrown into the pit also.” The king dismissed the proposition, but when the friend would not stop crying out and begging to be thrown in, he relented and said, “If you wish to die needlessly, so be it.”

So the man and his friend were thrown into the pit, and the lion awoke and approached hungrily. But the man’s friend stood in front of him, and as the lion lunged to attack him, thrust a sharp shard of rock up into the lion’s throat. The friend fell, torn to pieces by the angry throes of the lion, but then, moments later, the lion died also.

Many witnesses saw this, and, being moved by the sacrifice of the friend, and seeing that the lion was dead and could no longer kill the man, they called for the man be set free from the pit. But the prosecutor disagreed, saying, “The blood is still on his hands, he must still die.” The king replied, “You agreed to the sentence. His penalty was to be thrown to the lion, and thrown to the lion he was. Let him remain until morning, and then his sentence is passed.”

This is why I believe in Christianity: We all are destined for the pit, for the wages of sin is death. He who has hated his brother has murdered him, and he who has looked on a woman with lust has committed adultery (Matthew 5). Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins (Leviticus 17:11), and the payment shall be life for a life (Deuteronomy 19:21). But Jesus, who is fully God and fully man, has rescued us from death. He became man to enter into the pit with us, because only a man could meet death. He was and had to have been God, because only God could defeat death.

[Told at the Fawakih Program 2010, edited 2016]

Receiving the grace of God in vain

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain– for He says, “At the acceptable time I listened to you, and on the day of salvation I helped you.” Behold, now is “the acceptable time,” behold, now is “the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2)

“He made Him who knew no sin” – that is the Gospel, pure and sweet. So can one who has been reconciled to God through the exchange of Christ still “receive the grace of God in vain”? Whoah.

Perhaps it is like someone who purchases a TV with a 100% mail-in rebate, but neglects to mail in the rebate. Those rebates all expire after 6 months or a year. He will never receive the money back if he waits too long. In that case, he would have “received the rebate in vain.”

There is a rebate-sending reconciliation with God and a rebate-neglecting reconciliation. Active and passive. Fervent and “I got time…” I am right now accepted to the American University in Cairo, but I haven’t submitted the registration fee or signed up for classes. If I show up in Cairo in August they will say, “Who the heck are you?”

“He made” – a completed action.
“So that we might” – a possible result.

The apostle does not use the past form of “will,” indicating inevitability, but the past form of “may,” indicating potential. But wait – for us to become the righteousness of God (which is reconciliation) all we must do is receive the grace of God, right? That depends. My friend hands me a bottle of Gatorade, and I receive it. “Is it in me?” Negative. It’s ineffective. My friend hands me a bottle of Gatorate, I receive it, I chug it down. “Is it in me?” Affirmative. It’s effective. I have truly received.

Salvation is in consumption. That’s why Jesus said the only way to get eternal life was to eat his flesh and drink his blood. “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him…he who eats this bread will live forever” (John 6:56, 58). I must consume Christ and be consumed by Christ.

Once saved always saved? It depends. I can reject food on my plate or in my mouth. In extreme cases, I can vomit it back up. But quickly after I ingest it, it becomes part of me, enters my bloodstream, and I cannot get rid of it then. So can I receive the grace of God in vain? It depends on the level of “receive” we’re talking about.

Is grace on my plate or in my blood?

When will prophecy cease?

Since my last post was so controversial, I thought I would just get it out of my system. I’m going to follow up on a key argument that I heard from a cessationist who I respect very much (an intelligent and well-read pastor, and my good friend’s father). His argument hinged on his interpretation of the meaning of 1 Corinthians 13:8-10. John Piper, another pastor who I respect, hit this smack dab on the head. I’m going to let him do the talking. What follows is his sermon called “When will prophecy cease?”
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In 1 Corinthians 13:8 Paul says, “Love never ends; as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.” So the question I want to try to answer today is: What time is referred to when Paul says, “Prophecies . . . will pass away”? Has it already passed away or will it pass away at some future time?

The next two verses (9-10) give the reason for why prophecies and knowledge will pass away: “For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect [literally: For we know in part and we prophesy in part]; but when the perfect [or: mature, complete] comes, the imperfect [or: partial] will pass away.” So the reason prophecies will pass away is that a time is coming when the partiality and incompleteness of the gift of prophecy will be replaced by perfection and completeness and wholeness.

When Will Prophesy Cease?
When is that time?

When Scripture Is Complete?
One respected tradition says that the coming of perfection or completeness refers to the coming of the day when Scripture is complete, that is, when the last inspired writings are gathered into the Bible and the canon of Scripture is closed. Let me quote from one of these writers whom I highly respect:

When Scripture is completed, then the church will have revelation thoroughly suited to her condition on earth. Our completed Bible is perfect in the sense that it is utterly sufficient revelation for all our needs. Paul is saying, “When the sufficient comes, the inadequate and partial will be done away. Tongues will vanish away, knowledge [and prophecies] will cease at the time that the New Testament is finished.”

So when verse 10 says, “When the perfect comes,” they say it means, “When the perfect New Testament comes.” Is that what Paul means by perfect?

When Christ Returns?
The other view says that the coming of the perfect refers to the experience of perfection at the return of Christ.

So you see what is at stake in these two interpretations. If the coming of the perfect in verse 10 refers to the finishing of the New Testament, then the gifts of prophecy, tongues, and knowledge have all passed away because that time came 1,900 years ago. But if the coming of the perfect in verse 10 refers to the second coming of Christ, then the natural understanding of the text is that the gifts will continue until Jesus comes.

Testing the Options by the Rest of the Passage
Let’s test these two suggestions by the rest of the passage.

“When I Became a Man”
In the next verse (11) Paul says, “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways.” Paul compares the experience of partial prophecy and knowledge to the experience of childhood, and he compares the passing away of these gifts to the experience of adulthood. That comparison doesn’t seem to decide the issue for us.

“Face to Face”
Let’s go to the next verse. Verse 12: “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood.” Now this is really helpful in making our decision! Here in verse 12 Paul is describing what verse 10 refers to, namely, “when the perfect comes.”

I want to make sure that you see this. Notice the contrast in verses 9 and 10 between “our knowledge is imperfect” (v. 9) and “when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away” (v. 10). Then drop down to verse 12 and notice the same contrast in the second part of the verse: “Now I know in part” contrasts with “then I shall understand fully.” So verse 12 is clearly describing the coming of “the perfect” referred to in verse 10.

Now does the description of the coming of the perfect in verse 12 fit with the second coming or with the completing of the New Testament?

Let’s take the two halves of the verse one at a time. First it says, “Now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face.” Is it more likely that Paul is saying, “Now before the New Testament is written, we see in a mirror dimly; but then when the New Testament is written, we shall see face to face”? Or is it more likely that he is saying, “Now in this age we see in a mirror dimly; but then when the Lord returns, we shall see face to face”? In the Old Testament there are half a dozen references to seeing God “face to face.” Revelation 22:4 says that in heaven we shall see God’s face. 1 John 3:2 says that when Jesus appears, we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is.

My conclusion is that the contrast between seeing fuzzily in an old mirror made out of metal and seeing face to face is not a contrast between first century spiritual knowledge and the knowledge we have from the New Testament today, but rather it’s a contrast between the imperfect knowledge we have today in this age and the awesome personal knowledge of God we will have when the Lord returns.

“Then I Shall Understand Fully”
The second half of verse 12 points in the same direction. It says, “Now I know in part [the very same words used at the beginning of verse 9]; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood.” Now is this a contrast between before and after the New Testament or before and after the second coming?

It’s hard for me to imagine Paul or any of us saying that after the New Testament was written, we now in this age understand fully, even as we have been fully understood. This surely refers to knowing in some sense the way God knows us—not omniscience; it doesn’t say we will know everything. But we will “be freed from the misconceptions and inabilities to understand (especially to understand God and his work) which are part of this present life . . . [Our knowledge] will contain no false impressions and will not be limited to what is able to be perceived in this age.”

Conclusion
So my conclusion on this question is this: Paul is saying that prophecies will pass away not when the New Testament is completed but when this age is completed at the second coming of the Lord from heaven. That’s when “the perfect comes” (v. 10). That’s when all speaking and thinking and reasoning like a child will be put away (v. 11). That’s when we will see “face to face” (v. 12a). That’s when we will “know fully even as we have been fully known” (v. 12b).

Speaking in tongues

What a can of worms this is. Well, I’m going to adhere closely to scripture here and make some interpretations of what I read, trying to cap my opinions as much as possible. The only reason I’m posting this is because I just read 1 Corinthians 14 and it seems to tackle this issue with straighforward clarity.

Speaking in tongues does not naturally edify others (simply because they can’t understand it). If it is used in the church: (1) there should be no more than two or three who speak [if you are the fourth, you must keep quiet]; (2) they must speak one at a time, not simultaneously; and (3) the word must be interpreted by one gifted as an interpreter. It seems that it is possible for the word to be interpreted by the one who uttered it (1 Cor. 14:13). All this is so the tongue will edify the church.

Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.
Now I wish that you all spoke in tongues, but even more that you would prophesy; and greater is one who prophesies than one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets…

Why? Because prophecy edifies others. (It is better to give than to receive.)

…so that the church may receive edifying….For one who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God; for no one understands…. But one who prophesies speaks to men for edification and exhortation and consolation.

That is why prophecy is considered better than tongues. Church is for the edification of the church.

How will the one who fills the place of the ungifted say the “Amen” at your giving of thanks, since he does not know what you are saying? For you are giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not edified. I thank God, I speak in tongues more than you all; however, in the church I desire to speak five words with my mind so that I may instruct others also, rather than ten thousand words in a tongue.

However, the gift of tongues seems to have a different role in private prayer. If tongues is cautioned because it does not edify the church, then, in private prayer, which is not for the purpose of edifying the church, it is free from this caution and limitation. What I mean here is that legitimate practice of tongues is much more common in private than it is in public.

“For you are giving thanks well enough [when you speak in tongues]…”
“…let him speak to himself and to God.”
“I thank God, I speak in tongues more than you all.”
“Yet earnestly desire spiritual gifts [including tongues].”
“Do not forbid to speak in tongues.” [This one is the ringer.]

So then, tongues is a good thing in private, and in public it can be a good thing when and only when it edifies the church, according to the stipulations of orderliness and understanding outlined in 1 Corinthians 14.

Cessationists have overreacted.
(Oops. There goes my opinion.)

Proverbs in three words

Prov 20:18
Prepare plans by consultation,
And make war by wise guidance.
[ Go get advice. ]

Prov 20:22
Do not say, “I will repay evil”;
Wait for the LORD, and He will save you.
[ Revenge is sin. ]

Prov 20:4
The sluggard does not plow after the autumn,
So he begs during the harvest and has nothing.
[ Prepare beforehand, stupid. ]

Prov 20:24
Man’s steps are ordained by the LORD,
How then can man understand his way?
[ Destiny is real. ]

Proverbs 23:4-8
Do not weary yourself to gain wealth,
Cease from your consideration of it.
When you set your eyes on it, it is gone.
For wealth certainly makes itself wings
Like an eagle that flies toward the heavens.
[ Riches slip away. ]

Do not eat the bread of a selfish man,
Or desire his delicacies;
For as he thinks within himself, so he is.
He says to you, “Eat and drink!”
But his heart is not with you.
You will vomit up the morsel you have eaten,
And waste your compliments.
[ No turkish delight. ]

Proverbs 23: 20-25
Do not be with heavy drinkers of wine,
Or with gluttonous eaters of meat;
For the heavy drinker and the glutton will come to poverty,
And drowsiness will clothe one with rags.
[ Temper your entertainment. ]

Listen to your father who begot you,
And do not despise your mother when she is old.
Buy truth, and do not sell it,
Get wisdom and instruction and understanding.
[ Learn the easy way. ] *admittedly four words

The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice,
And he who sires a wise son will be glad in him.
Let your father and your mother be glad,
And let her rejoice who gave birth to you.
[ Make ’em proud.]

From Proverbs Chapter 27

1. Do not boast about tomorrow,
For you do not know what a day may bring forth.
[ Plan with flexibility. ]

2. Let another praise you, and not your own mouth;
A stranger, and not your own lips.
[ Don’t complement yourself. ]

3. A stone is heavy and the sand weighty,
But the provocation of a fool is heavier than both of them.
[ Fools irritate people. ]

4. Wrath is fierce and anger is a flood,
But who can stand before jealousy?
[ No you di’n’t. ]

5. Better is open rebuke
Than love that is concealed.
[ Tell it straight. ]

6. Faithful are the wounds of a friend,
But deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.
[ Brutal honesty loves. ]

7. A sated man loathes honey,
But to a famished man any bitter thing is sweet.
[ Lack sustains longing. ]

8. Like a bird that wanders from her nest,
So is a man who wanders from his home.
[ Call home often. ]

9. Oil and perfume make the heart glad,
So a man’s counsel is sweet to his friend.
[ Friendly avice relaxes. ]

10. Do not forsake your own friend or your father’s friend,
And do not go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity;
Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother far away.
[ Don’t fear dependence. ]

11. Be wise, my son, and make my heart glad,
That I may reply to him who reproaches me.
[ Make pops proud. ]

12. A prudent man sees evil and hides himself,
The naive proceed and pay the penalty.
[ Avoid sin ruthlessly. ]

13. Take his garment when he becomes surety for a stranger;
And for an adulterous woman hold him in pledge.
[ Skeptical? Keep collateral. ]

14. He who blesses his friend with a loud voice early in the morning,
It will be reckoned a curse to him.
[ Morning people: witches. ]

15-16. A constant dripping on a day of steady rain
And a contentious woman are alike;
He who would restrain her restrains the wind,
And grasps oil with his right hand.
[ Women are slippery. ]

17. Iron sharpens iron,
So one man sharpens another.
[ 1+1=3 ]

18. He who tends the fig tree will eat its fruit,
And he who cares for his master will be honored.
[ Serve your boss. ]

19. As in water face reflects face,
So the heart of man reflects man.
[ Mind your heart. ] (and [Heart your mind.])

20. Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied,
Nor are the eyes of man ever satisfied.
[ There’s always more. ]

21. The crucible is for silver and the furnace for gold,
And each is tested by the praise accorded him.
[ Soli deo gloria. ]

22. Though you pound a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain,
Yet his foolishness will not depart from him.
[ Jerks are stubborn. ]

23-27. Know well the condition of your flocks,
And pay attention to your herds;
For riches are not forever,
Nor does a crown endure to all generations.
When the grass disappears, the new growth is seen,
And the herbs of the mountains are gathered in,
The lambs will be for your clothing,
And the goats will bring the price of a field,
And there will be goats’ milk enough for your food,
For the food of your household,
And sustenance for your maidens.
[ Keep close tabs. ]

The idolatry of missions

( Notes from John Miller at Next Steps )

My bitterness came from thinking I was at least slightly better than others.

Our soul-tattoo had become “missionary,” and God became a means to the ultimate ends – missions.

Guard against the idolatry of missions. Be careful – steps are something “I do.” You can take all the “next steps” you want, but if your heart is empty…

I can “rat-a-tat-tat” on my get-it-right Christianity, but we weren’t made to march. We were made to dance.

Missions didn’t die for me. Christar won’t be in heaven.

“Devotions” and “quiet time” are not in the Bible – they smack of “a chapter a day keeps the devil away.” What is in the Bible? Revel. Dance. Enjoy.

If you put Jesus first, you will never not have time for Him.

If we were to ask Jesus “How arre you doing today?” I can’t see him saying, “I’m busy.” But we wear “busy” like a badge of honor.

You don’t have to do this. The pressure’s off. God will be exalted, with or without you.

Is God’s desire for adoration selfish?

The question has been posed by my heart and by friends, “Since God is ultimately concerned with bringing glory and praise to himself, doesn’t this make him selfish?” A little too dependent on praise, like a clingy wife? The question is well answered by Sam Storms:

“I assume you will agree that your greatest good consists of enjoying the most excellent Being in the universe. That Being, of course, is God. Therefore, the most loving and kind thing that God can do for you is to devote all his energy and effort to elicit from your heart praise of himself. Why? Because praise is the consummation of enjoyment. All enjoyment tends towards praise and adoration as its appointed end. In this way, God’s seeking his own glory and God’s seeking your good converge.

“Listen again. Your greatest good is in the enjoyment of God. God’s greatest glory is in being enjoyed. So, for God to seek his glory in your worship of him is the most loving thing he can do for you. Only by seeking his glory pre-eminently can God seek your good passionately.

“For God to work for your enjoyment of him (that’s his love for you) and for his glory in being enjoyed (that’s his love for himself) are not properly distinct.

“So, God comes to you in his Word and says: ‘Here I am in all my glory: incomparable, infinite, immeasurable, unsurpassed. See me! Be satisfied with me! Enjoy me! Celebrate who I am! Experience the height and depth and width and breadth of savoring and relishing me!’

“Does that sound like God pursuing his own glory? Yes.

“But it also sounds like God loving you and me perfectly and passionately. The only way it is not real love is if there is something for us better than God: something more beautiful than God that he can show us, something more pleasing and satisfying than God with which he can fill our hearts, something more glorious and majestic than God with which we can occupy ourselves for eternity. But there is no such thing! Anywhere! Ever!”

The peace of being known

Spirit of the Living God, you have searched me and you know me. You know what I want, and things I’m not aware that I want, and what I don’t want that I think I do. You know what I ought to want that I don’t, and what I want that I ought not to want. You are what I want, and I want to want you. I want all that pleases you for me to want. You know my heart better than I do, and you know me better than my heart does.

You know what’s good for me, and you will work it for me even despite my requests for my own detriment. You are beneficent and merciful. You hold my world in your hands. You have set your intentions upon my heart, and when you intend, it will come to pass, for you are the All-mighty, the Author of my story.

You are telling a great story with my life. The pages seem dark with problems now, but of course they do, for the flow of every good story is problem—worse—solved. Therefore I will wait on you with confidence that you know me and that your intentions to bless me are wise and well-informed, strategic and sublime.

I would have despaired unless I believed I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Now my heart takes heart in knowing that it rests in your heart.

“There is a faith proved of more worth than gold, so refine me Lord through the flames.”

“I will wait for you, Jesus, you’re the sun on my horizon. All my hope’s in you, Jesus, I can see you now arising.”

“The Lord is gracious, slow to anger, rich in love and good to all who call upon him.”