Thursday, July 21, 2011

Beyond A Reasonable Doubt


“The standard required by the prosecution in most criminal cases within our adversarial judicial system is, “beyond a reasonable doubt” the highest level of burden of persuasion. This means that the proposition being presented by the government must be proven to the extent that there is no "reasonable doubt" in the mind of a “reasonable person” (an objective standard against which any individual's conduct can be measured) that the defendant is guilty.

“What is a reasonable doubt?” Jury instructions typically say that a reasonable doubt is a doubt based on reason and common sense and typically use phrases such as “fully satisfied” or “entirely convinced” in an effort to quantify the standard of proof. 

The word “beyond” in the phrase beyond a reasonable doubt means “to the exclusion of”. That is the state must exclude any and all reasonable doubt as to the defendant’s guilt.”

I found these definitions online in Wikipedia. If you’d like to know more, I’m sure there are other more definitive resources elsewhere.

While reading this morning, the words “reasonable doubt” entered my mind by the Holy Spirit which caused me to explore this through His eyes (as best I can). These words are from Him.

Most Christians today, or so called Christians, live in a world that is not only heavily laden with doubt, but also saturated with fear. The “world” we know and live in is arrayed against God. The thoughts of “the world” are an enmity against God. There are also those who also live in the ignorance of God…they haven’t been taught, not even the rudimentary things of God, so they live in a place called “reasonable doubt”. By their own reasoning, through the five senses, they are unable to recognize the evidence of God, for the things (thought, laws, love, eternal life) are spiritually understood. So their minds (carnal minds) are unable to comprehend even the slightest notions of the meaning of God our creator. They live in darkness. Their reasonable doubt is clearly displayed by such ideas as atheism, agnosticism, and other forms of blindness.

They would rather believe Darwin, (whom they’ve never seen or read) who believed and wrote that man evolved through the transmutation of species, rather than believe Father God who has evidenced Himself all around them….from the celestial body on which we live, to the very breath they take. This question arose in my mind: What would I rather believe, a man who has created only a theory about human beings and other living things, or the creator Himself? I do think that the latter would be, and is my preference. 

I believe the Bible, the God of the Bible because it is the truth. There is absolutely nothing in the Bible that can be disproved!!  Naysayers, point to science or mathematics or philosophers, yet they were all mere men. They fail to see or realize that a higher power had to create the laws of science and mathematics for it to exist. Terms like “Einstein discovered the theory of relativity”, or “laws of physics”, or “highly complicated mathematical equations” are all discoveries. Not creations of man.

But God is alive!!! He is a spirit, the only spirit that man needs to know; the Lord of the universe and the creator of all things, as it is written in His Holy Word. Man has been afforded the knowledge of science and mathematics by the creator, and they struggle in futility to prove that He doesn’t exist, and that man is the development of random mutation.

Most of us Christians spend at least 95% of our waking hours living in and believing worldly ideas and thoughts. Being educated by our fives senses, it seems only natural that we would spend would spend the majority of our time on the things of the world. It has become habitual. It takes no effort at all to live in the world and do worldly things, think worldly thoughts. However, it takes concentrated effort to live a spiritual life; for most of us, too much effort. You could say that we spend 5% of our time on Godly things, which is capable of producing 95 percent of our peace, joy, purpose, and life’s fulfillment. Usually that 5% is done in haste so that we can get back to the worldly things that God has provided for us. That 95% is spent in life’s struggles. I call it living in “unreasonable doubt” and fear. It’s a place void of faith; A place that is outside of God, because it is created by the carnal mind….an illusion. 

Did you know that Godless living (doubt, fear, faithless) can become and is a habit? Ask yourself a question. When was the last time you stepped out in faith, knowing that God inspired you to take action? When was the last time you knew for sure that God spoke to you? How confident are you that the voice you hear is from the Holy Spirit? Does it inspire doubt or fear? Or does it inspire that knowing deep inside that it is absolute truth you are hearing? Could it be that when He does speak to you, it is unfamiliar? You haven’t been listening enough to know His voice from that other voice. Jesus said, “My sheep know my voice.” 

Unreasonable doubt is a condition only the Christian can experience. For example, the Christian is born again through true repentance and then acceptance of Jesus as Lord and Savior over his/her life. He/she is now a “believer”.  The believer studies the Bible, grows in faith by hearing the word, and lives the Christian life. Something happens and a sin is committed. Now the Christian feels guilty and repents. However, now he feels “not good enough” because he slipped up. The guilt lingers. Later on, because the guilt is still there (even though he has repented), he slips up again. Even though he repents, the result is more guilt. See the pattern? He has never learned, or has forgotten that (1 John 14-15) “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.” 

First, the sin, then the guilt, then the sense of unrighteousness, then lost confidence. At this point, doubt becomes even more intense. You begin to think of all the past errors or sins you perpetrated. You lose focus on your spiritual life, and you try to do things under your own power, but it doesn’t work out. You forget that (1 John 1-9) “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

The Christian forgets, or allows the truth to fade that God’s Word is true; that God is faithful and that He forgives and cleanses. This is what I call “unreasonable doubt”. When we forget that God is absolutely dependable, we fall victim to unwarranted doubt and fear. We become ineffective in fulfilling His purpose for our lives. 

We forget that Jesus is the only way to the Father, and the Kingdom of God. Leaving Jesus out, opens the door to doubt and fear, that is far “beyond a reasonable doubt.”  

James 1: 6-7 “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

From Michael Masterson:

There are four levels of proficiency in any valuable skill - incompetence, competence, mastery, and virtuosity.

* To get past incompetence, you must spend about 1,000 hours practicing the skill you eventually want to master.

* After putting in about 1,000 hours, you will be competent. To achieve mastery, you will have to continue to practice that skill for a total of 5,000 hours.

* Virtuosity is extremely rare. You can't get it simply by practicing. You must also have a natural gift. Even then, you must practice at least 10,000 hours to achieve it.

If it takes this much effort to accomplish mastery over something in the “natural”, we tend to think or believe it will take as much or more for spiritual things. Here’s a challenge. Spend at least one hour more a day on spiritual things; reading the Bible, meditating, praying. Do it for two weeks. After two weeks, add another hour, and so on. Then it becomes effortless.

However, we should remember that Jesus did it all! The only effort it takes is to make the decision to invite Jesus into your heart, and make Him Lord and Savior. Allow the Holy Spirit to work through as you Helper and Counselor, and the struggle to be acceptable is over. Jesus paid for our sins, so now guilt is defeated. He is our righteousness. Our confidence is in Him, not in ourselves. He is our every thing. Now we can rest in our redemption. If we miss the mark, we have His word that says he is “faithful and just to forgive us of all our sins.”  All we have to do is repent, and sin is wiped away.

There is no room for reasonable or unreasonable doubt.

One can believe the truth of the Bible because:  (Hebrews 4:12-13) " For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.  And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

So, Beyond A Reasonable Doubt does apply to the Word of God. It can be believed absolutely. However, it is spiritually understood, and it takes a re-born spirit, a “new creation” in Christ Jesus to hear and receive the truth of God.

Take joy in knowing that today, tomorrow, and forever the word of God does not fail. The God who is love does not fail; His mercy does not fail; and His Son Jesus, is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, Beyond a Reasonable Doubt.