By: Richard D. Eutsler, Sr.
What is Secular Humanism? This is something that we hear talked about from time to time and yet too many Christians don’t even know what it is. The Church of Jesus Christ is being sucked more and more into the mire and death that comes from Secular Humanism and because of the ignorance of the people, they don’t even know that they are dying.
The following verse gives the reason that Secular Humanism has found a way into the Church today and that the people have been sinking ever more into the clutch of this religion from hell that is destroying God’s people.
Romans 1:28
28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
In this verse, Paul, by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, gives the reason that Secular Humanism is so popular and accepted in the churches today, “…they did not like to retain God in their knowledge…”. But I can hear some of you now saying, “But we don’t reject God! We worship Him!” Do you? Do you really Worship God? Do you BELIEVE ALL THAT HIS WORD SAYS AND KEEP IT IN YOUR HEART? Or do you rather believe IN God but do what YOU want to do and believe what YOU want to believe?
One of the key words in Romans 1:28 is the work “knowledge.” To retain God in YOUR knowledge means that your knowledge must be formed by God and BASED upon God’s Word! When you reject what God’s knowledge says, for what you want to believe, then you have NOT RETAINED God in your knowledge.
Another key word in this verse is the word “like.” As the Scripture says, “…as they did not LIKE to retain God in their knowledge….” This shows PREFERENCE! Their preference was NOT to keep God in their knowledge or rather they PREFERRED NOT to BELIEVE GOD!
This brings us to the result of such actions: “God gave them over to a reprobate mind….” When People don’t CHOOSE or PREFER God’s ways to their own, THEN God turns them over to a reprobate mind. The word ‘Reprobate’ means: evil, wicked, corrupt, fraudulent, deceitful, dishonest, manipulative and the list goes on and on. Let me make something clear here. God does NOT GIVE them a reprobate mind, He TURNS them OVER to a reprobate mind. If your mind is reprobate, then God will simply let you have it your OWN way!
The end result: “…to do those things which are not convenient.” The word ‘convenient’ means: good, right, fit , fitting, proper, just, ship-shape, just to name a few meanings. The end result in the lives of these people is simple. These people will never please God. Nothing they do will ever be pleasing in the sight of God! Even if they do ‘good’ it will be accounted as evil in the sight of God!
Let me show you and example in the following scripture:
Genesis 4:1-8
1 And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.
2 And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
3 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.
4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
6 And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.
There are so many things that we can learn from these scriptures concerning Cain and Abel, but I will try to stick to the point. We are going to look at the difference between Cain and Abel, what they did before God and how God reacted to what they did. Again I will try to stick to the point.
Let us first look at this part of scripture:
Genesis 4:2
2 And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
Here we see, at first, the only difference between Cain and Abel was that Cain was a farmer and Abel was a sheepherder. This in itself seems harmless enough and in all probability was. There is nothing that I can find in scripture that says, being a farmer is wrong. So let’s move on to the next verse.
Genesis 4:3
3 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord.
Here is where the problem with Cain begins to be seen. Yet you might say, “What is wrong with what Cain did?” “Is it wrong to TITHE to the Lord?” “Or is it wrong to make an OFFERING to the Lord?” The answer is NO! It is NOT wrong to Tithe or make an Offering to the Lord. Cain’s problem was not THAT he made an offering to the Lord, Cain’s problem was in WHAT he offered to the Lord. Let me show you:
Genesis 3:17
17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
Here is the cause of Cain’s sin. God had CURSED THE GROUND and the fruit thereof. In sorrow was man to eat of the ground. Since God had cursed the ground for the sake of man’s sin, then if one tried to offer to God anything from the ground it too would be cursed.
We see then that Cain’s thinking was wrong, off the mark, ship-wreck and sinful. In other words, Cain had a reprobate mind!
Let’s look at the next verse dealing with Cain and Abel:
Genesis 4:4
4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
In this verse we can see that Abel’s thinking was “right with God” (righteous). Abel did not offer to God that which He had cursed but rather that which He had blessed. This is a little harder to show you but I will do my best if you can see.
Genesis 3:21
21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
To show you this I must first ask you a question. Where did God get the SKINS? There is only ONE answer to this question. If you take all that God shows us in His work concerning sacrifice and offerings, then there is only one answer. That is that God Himself showed unto Adam and his wife the principle of sacrifice and prepared the FIRST SACRIFICIAL LAMB JUST AS HE PREPARED THE LAST SACRIFICIAL LAMB! JESUS! THE FIRST AND THE LAST!
Now go back and take a look at that verse again concerning Abel’s sacrifice:
Genesis 4:4
4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
You can clearly see that God had respect unto Abel’s offering because Abel had done according to what God had said.
Now let’s take a look at how God dealt with Cain’s problem.
Genesis 4:5
5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
I want you to see two things in this verse. One, that God did not have respect for Cain NOR Cain’s offering. Here you can clearly see that God not ONLY rejected Cain’s offering but that God ALSO rejected Cain! In God’s Righteousness, He must not only reject that which is wrong, but He must ALSO reject the one who does the wrong. And what was Cain’s response to God’s Rejection? The same as anyone else when they are corrected by God and are in the condition that was Cain’s. Cain got angry and he pouted! When a person is not in agreement with God and His ways, then that person always gets angry when he is confronted with his sin.
This marks the difference between one who has a reprobate mind and one who does not. When the child of God is shown his sin, he will REPENT of that sin and turn to obey God. He will make the sacrifice that IS acceptable to God and therefore he and his sacrifice will be accepted of God!
But to show you that God is fair in His dealings with man, let us look at what happened next between Cain and God.
Genesis 4:6
6 And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
Here we see God trying to reason with Cain so that Cain can see his sin. Remember this Scripture?
Isaiah 1:18
18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
The Lord God will always try and reason with the sinner and bring him unto repentance! But be not deceived nor be confused, God will NEVER give in to wrong NOR will He compromise His TRUTH!
To look at what God said to Cain is to see that what God was saying to him was basically this: “Cain, what is your problem? Why are you angry and why are you pouting? Look at your MOTIVES and find out what you are angry at.”
In the next verse God makes His case to Cain clear.
Genesis 4:7
7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
I am going to get a little “wordy” here, but I want you to get a clear understanding. God is saying, “Cain, can’t you see? If you do what is right THEN can I accept you. But if you don’t do what is right, then I can’t accept you. Look Cain, because of this sin that you have done and the fact that you have ignored My Word, Sin is lying at the door! And his (sin) desire will be to take you over! And you will become like him (sin).”
Did God change Cain’s mind? NO! What God said to Cain concerning sin came to pass. God turned Cain over to a reprobate mind and let Cain do as he wished, because God will NOT go against a man’s will.
Look:
Genesis 4:8
8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.
Because Cain would not humble his heart to God and change his ways to agree with God, Cain’s sin grew to the point where he killed his brother Abel. There are some who would say, “But I haven’t killed anybody!” To them I say, really? When you rise up against a brother or sister in the Lord and falsely accuse them so as to bring them down and make yourself look or feel better, then you have committed the same sin as Cain!
Cain hated his brother Abel because Abel was accepted in the sight of God and he wasn’t. Also, Cain did not want to admit that he was wrong. Every time that Cain saw Abel, he saw his sin and his rejection of God. Instead of repenting, he killed his brother.
Those who fall into the trap of Secular Humanism can be plainly seen in the following verses:
Job 21:14-15
14 Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.
15 What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him?
They don’t want to know the ways of God nor do they want to be judged by Him. Some don’t believe in God nor His Word. They see no profit in following Jesus Christ and keeping His Word.
Let me leave you with this:
In the World, Secular Humanism is easy to spot for the Christian who knows the Word of God. But in the Church, Secular Humanism is sometimes harder for Christians to spot. This is why so many have fallen into it. But the Word of God is sure and safe to those who follow after righteousness. The Word will always expose the lies of the Devil and those who follow him. Paul’s warning to Timothy is a good example of this.
1 Timothy 4:1-11
1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
3 Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.
4 For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving:
5 For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.
6 If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained.
7 But refuse profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness.
8 For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.
9 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation.
10 For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.
11 These things command and teach.
Please bare with me as I conclude. I do not wish to make anyone mad. I DO wish to make some of you uncomfortable! I DO wish to provoke some of you to read the Word of God and find those things that please Him and walk in them as the children of the Most High who reigns in righteousness and power. I will conclude with the First verse of First Timothy Chapter four.
1 Timothy 4:1
1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
This is a warning given to Paul by the Holy Spirit of God to the Church and, therefore, needs to be considered very carefully in the fear of the Lord. This warning states that: “…in the latter times some shall depart from the faith….” This is NOT speaking about people in the world who do not walk with God in Jesus Christ. This is talking very clearly about those who walk in the Churches claiming to be Christians who have fallen away from THE FAITH of Jesus Christ and that do not walk in obedience to His Word nor His Ways. They have given heed (listen to, paid attention to) seducing spirits. Seducing spirits are demon spirits that SEDUCE you to follow after those things that are cursed by God. They are the things of the flesh that lead to self and not to God. They glorify Man and NOT God, who created Man. These demons seduce man in three areas:
1. Lust of the flesh:
These are the basic appetites of man that include food, drink, sex and many other things that deal with the flesh, such as feelings.
2. Lust of the eyes:
These are the things that we see with our eyes. They can include such things as food, drink in the form of how ‘good’ they may look to tempt us into their use. The strongest by far deal with sex and things that do not belong to us, to make us lust after them.
3. Pride of life:
This is most often seen in the realm of mans intellect. Thinking one is better than one really is. This is taught in the ‘self-esteem’ doctrine of Secular Humanism.
1 John 2:16
16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
If you go back to Genesis and read of Eve’s encounter with the Devil you will find that she was tempted with all of these areas. The fruit was good to eat. The fruit was pleasing to the eye. It could make one wise, even like God.
And, again, if you look back where Jesus was tempted of the Devil, He was tempted in the very same areas.
We see this in the church today. Today’s church is NOT separate from the world, IT IS PART OF THE WORLD! Jesus said that if you were of Him then the world would HATE YOU! If this is true, and we know that it is, then why does the church and most of the Christians today try to be loved by the world? LISTEN! IF THE WORLD LOVES YOU THEN YOU ARE HATED BY GOD! It is that simple. I know that most people will reject what I am saying. Even so Amen! They are the very ones who will use the doctrines of demons to defend their evil ways, but I know that God will JUDGE ALL THINGS IN RIGHTEOUSNESS and in that Judgment those who stick to what is true will be found the FAITHFUL OF GOD at His coming. Doctrines of demons are those teachings that many have propagated to further the sin that they are into and to bring others into the same sin, that they may serve the pleasures of the flesh. They do not want to serve the One and Only True God, Jesus Christ! Who is and ever will be the Only True God, the Savior of all who will seek Him and His ways!
I now close with a few Scriptures that you may look at and meditate over. Get into the Word and read all that has to do with these Scriptures.
May the Lord bless those who read with an open and pure heart before Him, that they may become all that The Father of our Salvation has for them to be in Him!
Richard D. Eutsler
Proverbs 1:7
7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Proverbs 1:22
22 How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?
Proverbs 1:24-33
24 Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;
25 But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:
26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh:
27 When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.
28 Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:
29 For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord:
30 They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.
31 Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
32 For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.
33 But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.
Scripture References: Romans 1:28, Genesis 4:1-8, Genesis 3:17, Genesis 3:21, Isaiah 1:18, Job 21:14-15, 1 Timothy 4:1-11, 1 John 2:16, Proverbs 1:7, Proverbs 1:22, Proverbs 1:24-33