SOME THINGS I DO NOT UNDERSTAND

Having been a Bible College and Seminary graduate, a pastor, and a Christian for almost forty years, you would think that I would be the person to ask when it comes to the things of God. I will grant you that there are a few doctrinal truths of which I have become certain, but there are far more that I have yet to understand. Oh, by the way, the number of certainties has dwindled over the years rather than get longer. Just about the time I think I have mastered a topic, God humbles me by my "discovery of additional light." Here are just a few items that make me aware of just how little I know:

1. Why God loves me.
2. The Trinity.
3. One hundred percent God; one hundred percent man.
4. Where God is and was (now and before creation).
5. Where God was before He made the place He now inhabits.
6. Why a perfect, omniscient, omnipotent God created Satan and man.
7. Why the Holy Spirit chooses not to make us all like Jesus right away.
8. Why the Bible is subject to so many interpretations.
9. Based upon human nature, why God calls for Christian unity.
10. How to tell who is saved and who is not.

Obviously, the list is extremely abbreviated for the sake of time and space. Suffice it to say, there are millions of things I do not know compared to the few I do. Here is a list of some of the things I do know:

1. God loves me because He saved me.
2. The God-head consists of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
3. Jesus was fully human and Jesus was fully God.
4. The Bible is the Word of God.
5. Satan is subject to God and requires permission to do evil.
6. God allows Satan to do "his thing" but in the end, everything works for good.
7. My desire to be present with the Lord is not being suicidal.
8. The Church is made up of "leavened" Christians.
9. I am required to love everyone.
10. All who accept and confess Jesus as Lord are the children of God.

The fruit of the Spirit is evidence of a person's salvation, but humility is his birth certificate.