Posted on 02/20/2016 6:08:39 AM PST by Kaslin
Donald Trump has challenged the Christianity of Ted Cruz while also raising questions about the nature of Ben Carson's faith. In the past, he also suggested that President Obama might be a Muslim rather than a Christian. Now, the Pope has questioned the Christianity of Trump.
It appears that what goes around, comes around.
Trump's immediate response was to call Pope Francis's comments "disgraceful" and to state that, "No leader, especially a religious leader, should have the right to question another man's religion or faith."
So, Trump can question the faith of others but the Pope cannot question his?
In defense of Trump, Jerry Falwell, Jr., has stated that, "I have no doubts that he is a man of faith, that he's a Christian."
Welcome to the 2016 version of the presidential race, representing reality TV at its most unscripted and bizarre.
Two serious questions, though, are begging to be asked.
First, according to the Bible, do we have the right to judge someone's profession of faith, let alone the mandate to?
Second, if we are called to judge, what are the criteria?
On the one hand, the Bible tells us repeatedly that only God knows the heart and in that sense, only He knows who belongs to Him and who doesn't. At the same time, the Bible repeatedly calls us to examine what a professing Christian believes and to evaluate how that person lives, to judge the tree by its fruit, as Jesus put it.
Using that criteria, we know, for example, that Richard Dawkins is not a Christian, since he denies the existence of God, the authority of Scripture, and the atoning death and bodily resurrection of Jesus. We also know that Osama bin Laden was not a Christian, since he was a radical Muslim and an unrepentant mass murderer.
In the same way, albeit in a much less extreme fashion, we know that our friendly next-door neighbors are not Christians when they demonstrate no understanding of their own sin, no recognition of their need for forgiveness, and no knowledge of who Jesus really is or why He died on the cross. And we can say this with certainty even if they attend church services every year at Easter and Christmas.
A Christian believes core Christian doctrines and lives a basic Christian lifestyle.
The Christian faith begins with an acknowledgement of our sin and a profession of faith in our Savior and is then evidenced by a godly life - not a perfect life, but a godly life. As Jesus said, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." (Matt. 7:21)
James (Jacob) echoed this saying, "Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works" (Jas. 2:18b).
In other words, talk is cheap. Let's see how you live.
That's why Paul could contrast the works of the flesh with the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:17-23), adding, "And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires" (Gal. 5:24).
That's why Paul could also state plainly that no adulterer or drunkard or practicing homosexual would enter God's kingdom (among other lifestyles; see 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Ephesians 5:5-7; Galatians 5:17-21), also noting, "And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God" (1 Cor. 6:11).
How does Donald Trump line up?
We know that in the past he boasted about his numerous adulterous affairs and that he built the first casino in America with its own strip club, actually featuring 36,000 square feet of adult entertainment. Yet he sees no need to ask for forgiveness for these past acts (which are just a small sampling of ungodly behavior) because he is "a very good person."
This is the opposite of Christianity, which begins with a recognition of guilt and an open confession of our need for forgiveness. As for Donald Trump, at no point in any interview that has ever been conducted with him has he offered the slightest understanding of the heart of the gospel.
That alone would indicate that Trump is a not a real Christian.
As for his conduct, while we have no idea how he lives in private, and while he presumably has many good qualities that are commendable, we do know that his public conduct is often deplorable, with his tweets and comments violating almost every standard of Christian decorum.
This is the standard Paul laid out for followers of Jesus: "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen" (Eph 4:29, NIV).
Trump's vitriolic, nasty, often vulgar, sometimes patently false attacks on others violate this verse from beginning to end, both in spirit and in letter. And remember that it was Jesus who told us that it was out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.
Jesus also "told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt [does this sound familiar to you at all?]
'Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector [remember that in New Testament times, tax collectors were notoriously corrupt].
'The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: "God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get."
'But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner!"
'I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.'" (Luke 18:9-14)
Which one sounds like Donald Trump, the Pharisee or the tax collector? And which is more characteristic of Mr. Trump, the person who exalts himself or the person who humbles himself?
Again, God is the ultimate judge, but He does tell us to judge the tree by its fruit, and that means that Donald Trump could really use our prayers.
You may still plan to vote for him to be president, even though he shows no true signs of being a genuine Christian (although it's clear he believes he is one). That's obviously your call entirely.
But let's not foolishly proclaim him to be a Christian when, until recently, many of his ardent supporters acknowledged that he was not. And just consider what a world changer Donald Trump could be if he really knew the Lord. Through prayer and God's mercy, it could happen.
“he also suggested that President Obama might be a Muslim rather than a Christian.”
HE IS A MUSLIM, in his heart, and he certainly is no Christian.
I believe Sen Cruz’s sister is dead. That should make you feel better.
Reading your post makes me think we are DU.
That was just pathetic diatribe.
Honestly, you folks have sunken into the primordial muck, and now think that’s evidence of being gifted.
I think Trump’s sister is pushing 80 years old, isn’t she?
>> if Donald Trump didn’t have double standards, he wouldn’t have any standards at all <<
I like it!
Terrific!
Great!
Wonderful!
Fantastic!
Incredible!
Unbelievable!
Yuuge!
So accurate it makes my head spin!
>> would the Biscuits at the Trump’s ‘Church of the 40 Foot Wall’ be orange? <<
To be fair to Trump, I think he didn’t refer to “biscuits.”
Rather, if I recall correctly, he used the term “little cracker” to describe the communion wafer used in his church.
this is so much Bible babble
It is not the place of the writer to even attempt to judge
Brown is judged un Christian to make the attempt
Is Trump Christian? Is the Pope Muslim?
Here are Trump's exact words. You can read many things into them, but they truly are utter nonsense. It's a classic case of people hearing what they want to hear:
"Well, I can say this. If the president, and if I were president now, I would certainly want to try and nominate a justice. I'm sure that, frankly, I'm absolutely sure that President Obama will try and do it. I hope that our Senate is going to be able - Mitch, and the entire group, is going to be able to do something about it. In times of delay, we could have a Diane Sykes, or you could have a Bill Pryor - we have some fantastic people. But this is a tremendous blow to conservatism. It's a tremendous blow, frankly, to our country.
True enough. Examples are easy to cite.
But you do need good temperament -- a quality that's seriously lacking in your typical paranoid narcissist.
Yes, those are his exact words. Two actual people he floated, versus “Just Trust Me” Ted Cruz who offered up a great big zero names.
People see what they want to see, indeed.
That is above my pay grade.
>> This is not just anti-Catholic sentiment, this is a revolt from Catholics towards this feckless PC Pope <<
Agreed.
But some of the old-fashioned anti-Catholic bigotry is still out there, especially among Southern evangelicals.
Anyway, my bottom line is that Trump can probably exploit that bigotry without losing votes from his non-bigoted supporters.
This is not PERSONAL, just responding to your article with humor, logic, sarcasm, and common sense. IF I offend you, please let me apologize in advance.
“That alone would indicate that Trump is a not a real Christian”
Thank you God for enlightening all of us sinners. I had no idea God was a Freeper. So tell us, who else among us is not a Christian?
David, a man after God’s own heart. As far as I know, Trump hasn’t had anyone murdered. Even if he had, God would forgive him.
Trump has never asked for forgiveness? Just how do you know this? He said so himself, you say....
In these cases I always like to quote the lyrics of the song Rumours by Adele.
“just cause I said it, don’t mean that I meant it, just cause you heard it.
(you can’t know what is in someone’s heart)
Truly ONLY God knows, for sure, one’s heart. You, the pope, nor any man, can “know”. We can “assume” (I guess you know the meaning of that word) all we like, but we can’t really know.
NKJ John 8:7 “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.â€
Let’s see, if you were the crowd and Trump was the women, who would Jesus side with?
Does your religion require the adherent to ask for and accept the forgiveness of Jesus?
I believe Trump is a Christian warrior in that he will fight for Christianity and Christians everywhere.
I also believe he is a Christian - taught by his mother. Mothers are important in the spiritual growth of the child IMO.
I believe in my heart that he is a good man who cares for Americans and America. I also believe that in his campaigning, he has had an awakening about the goodness of most Americans outside of NYC. He has never had much contact with ordinary Americans outside his dealings in NYC and big money across the country. He is learning what our concerns are and that they are real ie Obamacare, CommonCore, fed lands, 2nd Amendment... I am not perfect and make mistakes. I could be wrong and naive but I don’t believe in my heart that I am.
Words mean things, and those words are utter nonsense. Trum-pets obviously can see what isn’t there. No further comment is necessary.
The judge not lest ye be judged means don’t assume you know what only God knows.
The judge not lest ye be judged, when taken in full context, means don’t be a hypocrite. God spells out what he means in the Bible.
If one is committing sexual sin, they probably shouldn’t judge others for the same. If one is embezzeling money, they probably shouldn’t make judgements on people stealing from Walmart. In other words, ..........
3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite,.......
And we do have an idea who God loves. God loves everyone of us. The ones that will be forgiven are those that accept the gift of salvation offered by our Lord.
Liberals like to say, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.” — In other words, all is acceptable. There should be no further discussion on values. If we don’t agree, we’re making a judgement. They might should consider that there is a lot more in the Bible than that one verse they so often use out of context. There are a lot of judgments throughout the Bible.
I was pointing out an obvious exception to someone who stated that Trump calls out fetus-killers. Trump hasn't been very persuasive in convincing his sister of the error of her ways. Didn't Trump praise his sister as a model judge?
Are we now DU?
I'm willing to put my post up against yours to see which is the most DU-like. Putting words in my mouth is very DU-like. What did I say that suggested approval of the actions of Ted's sister? Bringing up a family tragedy to bring down an opponent is very DU-like. My criticism of Donald's sister (and his endorsement of her) is a political disagreement while your characterization of Ted's sister as "drug addict criminal" is a personal insult. Again, very DU-like level of discourse on your part.
Every individual has both good and bad aspects of their character. A moral judgment requires observation of both public and private volitional actions. Without knowing his private actions, a moral conclusion may be erroneous. And only God can truly know what is in a person's heart.
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