Does the Bible really say that? Excerpt from my book, 36

A person who is saved is not a habitual sinner.

What is sin?

Note: To some people, sin is anything short of perfection – to them, honest mistakes, and memory lapses, are sin. However, I am using a more restrictive definition, as found in the Free Dictionary:

1. A transgression of a religious or moral law, especially when deliberate.

2. Theology

a. Deliberate disobedience to the known will of God. b. A condition of estrangement from God resulting from such disobedience.

Newly saved people don’t instantly become mature Christians. The Holy Spirit works to develop us. (Psalm 86:11a “Teach me your way, Yahweh.”) By the definition of sin given above, a new, undeveloped Christian who doesn’t know that behavior X is required of believers is not a sinner because of this, unless she becomes aware that such behavior is a requirement, and deliberately decides not to do X, whatever X might be.

There are sins of omission – things that we should do, but don’t – as well as sins of commission. See James 4:17 and Matthew 25:40-45.

Here is some scripture about the possibility of deliberate sin in the life of the believer:

1 John 2:1 My little children, I write these things to you so that you may not sin. If anyone sins, we have a Counselor with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. 2 And he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world.

1 John 3:3 Everyone who has this hope set on him purifies himself, even as he is pure. 4 Everyone who sins also commits lawlessness. Sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that he was revealed to take away our sins, and in him is no sin. 6 Whoever remains in him doesn’t sin. Whoever sins hasn’t seen him and doesn’t know him.

7 Little children, let no one lead you astray. He who does righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. 8 He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. To this end the Son of God was revealed: that he might destroy the works of the devil. 9 Whoever is born of God doesn’t commit sin, because his seed remains in him; and he can’t sin, because he is born of God. 10 In this the children of God are revealed, and the children of the devil. Whoever doesn’t do righteousness is not of God, neither is he who doesn’t love his brother.

John doesn’t seem to really mean that a believer never sins, which he seems to have said in 3:9, because, in 1 John 2:1, and also in 1 John 1:9, he indicates that there can be forgiveness for a believer who does sin. But we aren’t supposed to sin, and one aspect of that is that we are to “do righteousness.” (3:10) Not doing righteousness is a sin of omission.

Romans 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2 May it never be! We who died to sin, how could we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him through baptism to death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we will also be part of his resurrection; 6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be in bondage to sin. 7 For he who has died has been freed from sin. 8 But if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him; 9 knowing that Christ, being raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no more has dominion over him! 10 For the death that he died, he died to sin one time; but the life that he lives, he lives to God. 11 Thus consider yourselves also to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12 Therefore don’t let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. 13 Also, do not present your members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God, as alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin will not have dominion over you. For you are not under law, but under grace. 15 What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under law, but under grace? May it never be!

The passages above strongly discourage sin in the life of a believer. However, should that occur, there is a remedy. That remedy is repentance – being truly sorry for our sin, asking forgiveness, and asking God to help us avoid sin in the future.

The above material is an excerpt from my self-published e-book, Does the Bible Really Say That?, which may be obtained free of charge, or purchased from Amazon for $0.99, which is the lowest price Amazon lets an author set. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain.

The previous post in this series, which began this topic, is here. God willing, the next post in this series will continue the topic of this post. Thanks for reading.

Evidence for the Big Bang, 50 years ago

As the recent movie, God's not Dead, put it, "Let there be light" in Genesis 1 is a description of the Big Bang. (The argument between the fictional atheist philosophy professor and the fictional outspoken college student, in the movie, was not over whether there was a Big Bang or not, but over whether or not there was a God who created the universe, using the Big Bang as part of His creative action.)

A few days over 50 years ago, Penzias and Wilson discovered background radiation from the Big Bang. (See here for the Wikipedia article on the Big Bang.) National Public Radio has a good report, commemorating the event, and points out what Penzias and Wilson originally reported, namely that they discovered this evidence by accident -- they weren't looking to prove that there was a Big Bang. The report apparently is partly based on discussions with Penzias and Wilson, who are still alive.

There is other evidence for the Big Bang, principally the shifting of light spectra towards the red, with this shift being greater, the further the object observed is from the earth. This is believed to be because the universe is expanding, as you would expect if there had been a cataclysmic explosion at its beginning. Red shifts were discovered before the discovery by Penzias and Wilson.

Although the background radiation and red shifting may not seem like a lot of evidence, they are an amazing amount of support, considering how long ago the Big Bang occurred.

Reasons to Believe, a Christian organization, claims that the Bible describes the Big Bang, especially in passages that use the phrase "stretched out" to refer to the starry sky. Perhaps. Perhaps not. I'm not an expert in the original language. "Stretched out" may mean expanding. It may merely mean that God created the starry sky. I don't know. Whichever way it was, the Big Bang was not a surprise to God, and required God to create a universe such that it could occur.

Thanks for reading.

Sunspots 471

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

The Arts: There really is a book named Amish Vampires in Space. And, according to this review, it's not nearly as bad as the title would suggest.
Christianity: Ken Schenck discusses the matter of disagreements between Christians.
Computing: Gizmo's Freeware points us to a service that lets you selectively print only the parts of a web page that you want printed. It also lets you save the important parts as a .PDF file.

The Huffington Post reports on producing your own make-up -- yes, lipstick, and whatever else -- with a 3-D printer, and what that might do to the cosmetics industry.

Google, in Spain, has lost a court battle that may influence the results of "googling" someone. It may affect the whole world.
Science: Wired reports on moths that look like wasps.
The Panda's Thumb reports that scientists have taken the first steps toward adding to the possibilities of the genetic code -- adding two new Nitrogen bases, in addition to the usual A, C, G and T.

Image source (public domain)

Two amazing organisms from South America

National Public Radio, and other news outlets, have reported on the discovery of bones from what seems to be the largest dinosaur ever found. The discovery was in Argentina.

NPR also reports on a living organism, a weird plant that looks like what would happen if you sprayed green shaving cream over one or more large beach balls. These slow-growing individuals could be the oldest higher plants on earth. They are related to carrots, but they certainly don't look like them in the photos. They are found in the Andes, including in Chile.

Amazing stuff! Read the articles, and look at the photos and videos.

Does the Bible really say that? Excerpt from my book, 35

A person who is saved bears fruit of salvation
Matthew 13:18 “Hear, then, the parable of the farmer. 19 When anyone hears the word of the Kingdom, and doesn’t understand it, the evil one comes, and snatches away that which has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown by the roadside. 20 What was sown on the rocky places, this is he who hears the word, and immediately with joy receives it; 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while. When oppression or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. 22 What was sown among the thorns, this is he who hears the word, but the cares of this age and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. 23 What was sown on the good ground, this is he who hears the word, and understands it, who most certainly bears fruit, and produces, some one hundred times as much, some sixty, and some thirty.”

Matthew 7:16 By their fruits you will know them. Do you gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree produces good fruit; but the corrupt tree produces evil fruit. 18 A good tree can’t produce evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree produce good fruit. 19 Every tree that doesn’t grow good fruit is cut down, and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them. 21 Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will tell me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, in your name cast out demons, and in your name do many mighty works?’ 23 Then I will tell them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you who work iniquity.’

John 15:1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the farmer. 2 Every branch in me that doesn’t bear fruit, he takes away. Every branch that bears fruit, he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already pruned clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, and I in you. As the branch can’t bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me. 5 I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me, and I in him, the same bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If a man doesn’t remain in me, he is thrown out as a branch, and is withered; and they gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, you will ask whatever you desire, and it will be done for you.

Jesus does not explain what “fruit” is. But He calls it “good fruit,” and says that we must remain in Him in order to produce it. The fruit is probably two related things: 1) influencing people to be converted, (See Chapter Three) and 2) the Fruits of the Spirit, described in Galatians 5, which also describes bad fruit:

Galatians 5:19 Now the deeds of the flesh are obvious, which are: adultery, sexual immorality, uncleanness, lustfulness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, strife, jealousies, outbursts of anger, rivalries, divisions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these; of which I forewarn you, even as I also forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, 23 gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let’s also walk by the Spirit. 26 Let’s not become conceited, provoking one another, and envying one another.

The above material is an excerpt from my recently self-published e-book, Does the Bible Really Say That?, which may be obtained free of charge, or purchased from Amazon for $0.99, which is the lowest price Amazon lets an author set. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain.

The previous post in this series, which began this topic, is here. God willing, the next post in this series will continue the topic of this post. Thanks for reading.

Did living things come from a common ancestor, or were they created separately?

The title asks an important question. It's also a broad question. Let me re-phrase it, more narrowly:

Do some living things resemble each other because of descent from a common ancestor, or because they were created to be similar?

Some people do not believe that the earth is old enough for there to have been distant common ancestors. They might believe that, say, cows and bison came from a common ancestor, or at least that all the breeds of cows did, but that cows and deer could not have, because there wasn't enough time. Some people, often the same ones, believe that the language of Genesis 1 indicates that God created the varieties of organisms by separate creative acts. Some people, usually the same ones as mentioned above, do not believe that humans and non-human primates share any common ancestry, because they believe that the language of Genesis 1 indicates that humans were created specially from non-living material. On the other hand, there are Bible-believing, God-fearing Christians, who are not so sure of all of this, and believe that the earth is very old. Such people may also believe that God especially endowed some pre-existing primate with the image of God (whatever that is) and that, therefore, non-human primates were distant biological ancestors of humans. Billy Graham has said that that may have been what happened.

If humans and chimpanzees were created separately, then how do people who believe this explain the similarities between the two? In particular, how do they explain the genetic similarity? The usual response is that, in order to function properly, genes have to fall within a narrow range of structural constraints. Therefore, human genes, and chimpanzee genes, were created to be much alike. Although we aren't really sure that there is only one way to make, say, an Oxygen-carrying molecule like hemoglobin, this argument of those who believe in special creation has some plausibility. But not enough.

A recent article, by a scientist who is a Christian, and well-qualified to discuss the matter, examines a situation where genes don't function. And, in this case, vitamin C production, it turns out that non-functioning genes of humans and non-human primates are very similar. The only reasonable explanation seems to be that humans and non-humans inherited their genes for vitamin C production from an ancestor which had lost the capacity to produce enzymes that could synthesize vitamin C. Thus neither humans nor orangutans can produce vitamin C, but both have the apparent remains of the genes that produced it in the presumed common ancestor, and these remains are almost identical.

Thanks for reading.

Sunspots 470

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

The Arts: One of my brothers is an excellent photographer. Two of his recent offerings are a photo of a moonbow (a rainbow caused by moonlight) and one of "ghosts" walking on a stairs -- see his explanation.
Christianity: Ken Schenck discusses Calvinism and Arminianism, including the question of free will.
Computing: (sort of) a picture, a visual comment on some of us and our information utilities.
Humor: A video, about two minutes long, of a crow, playing in the snow on top of cars.
Politics: The New York Times report on a study of how individual Supreme Court justices voted in free speech cases.
Science: Scientific American reports on a report in Nature that migratory birds are confused by electronic signals given off by us, at least in places where there are a lot of us.
Image source (public domain)

Science and Christianity are compatible

Michael Gerson, a columnist with The Washington Post, has recently written about the tension between science and some Christians, and says, correctly, that it is quite unnecessary. Real scientific findings don't threaten Christian belief, and it's too bad that so many Christians think that they do. Also, Gerson says, I believe correctly, that this stance will hurt the Christianity of the future, because the children of Christians are being asked, wrongly, to choose between their religious belief and the findings of science.

Gerson says it better.

Does the Bible really say that? Excerpt from my book, 34

Are there clues to help decide whether someone is a Christian or not?
Clue 1: Bearing fruit of salvation
Matthew 7:16 By their fruits you will know them.

Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, 23 gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Clue 2: Keeping Christ’s commandments
John 14:21 One who has my commandments, and keeps them, that person is one who loves me. One who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him, and will reveal myself to him.”

John 15:14 You are my friends, if you do whatever I command you.

1 John 1:3 This is how we know that we know him: if we keep his commandments. 4 One who says, “I know him,” and doesn’t keep his commandments, is a liar, and the truth isn’t in him.

Clue 3: Not being a habitual sinner
1 John 2:1 My little children, I write these things to you so that you may not sin. If anyone sins, we have a Counselor with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous.

Romans 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2 May it never be! We who died to sin, how could we live in it any longer?

Clue 4: Keeping a relationship with Christ, and with other Christians
John 15:4 Remain in me, and I in you. As the branch can’t bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me. 5 I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me, and I in him, the same bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

Hebrews 10:24 Let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good works, 25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is, but exhorting one another; and so much the more, as you see the Day approaching.

In other words, a Christian grows to be more and more like Christ.

The material above is shown in the following graphic. You are free to use that graphic for any non-commercial use.




The above material, except for the graphic, which was not in the book, is an excerpt from my recently self-published e-book, Does the Bible Really Say That?, which may be obtained free of charge, or purchased from Amazon for $0.99, which is the lowest price Amazon lets an author set. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain.

The previous post in this series, which began this topic, is here. God willing, the next post in this series will continue the topic of this post. Thanks for reading.

Sunspots 469

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:
Christianity: Weekend Fisher reminds us to be careful what we say.
Humor: photos (some photomanipulated, some apparently using some clever carving) of some amazing fruit turned into animals.
Wired reports on some really scary amusement park rides.
Science: Wired reports on a Australian mammal that has amazing, and death-inducing, sex orgies.
National Public Radio reports that a newly pregnant mother's diet can alter expression of her child's genes throughout life.
NPR also reports that laboratory rodents may react differently, depending on the sex of their handlers. This may cause re-thinking of a lot of behavioral research.

Image source (public domain)

Does the Bible really say that? Excerpt from my book, 33

What is the evidence for belief in Christ as savior and Lord?

The next chapter will consider the controversial matter of whether or not a saved person can lose that salvation. That’s an important question. But the subject of this chapter should be considered first. It is important to determine what a Christian, or believer, really is.

Who is saved?

We cannot save ourselves, and the church cannot save us.

Salvation from sin is a supernatural event, the result of God’s grace. We can ask forgiveness for sin, and accept the sacrifice of Christ’s blood, which paid the penalty for our personal sins. We can believe in the power of the resurrection. We need to do these things. But salvation is God’s work in us. (Ephesians 2:8 “for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, that no one would boast.”)

Raising our hands, saying a prayer, kneeling at a mourner’s bench, shaking a preacher’s hand, testifying to being saved, being baptized, or having our names on a church roll do not and cannot save us, in and of themselves. (There is nothing wrong with these acts, or similar ones, and most converts ought to do most or all of them, especially baptism, but they don’t save us.) In other words, no one is saved because she thinks she is, or because he joined a church 15 years ago. If she or he is saved, it is because of God’s forgiveness:

Titus 3:4 But when the kindness of God our Savior and his love toward mankind appeared, 5 not by works of righteousness which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy, he saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit

Whether we are saved or not is ultimately a question that only God can really answer. I once heard a Southern Baptist pastor say that about 50% of the people on the rolls of his church weren’t really saved. Why did he say that? Because, although they had participated in one or more of the acts listed above, they showed no evidence of salvation. Most Southern Baptists believe that, once you become a Christian, you cannot lose your salvation. In other words, this pastor believed that about half of the people who were members of his church had never been saved. Southern Baptist churches are by no means alone. All too many church members, of whatever denomination, show no evidence that they are following Christ in salvation.

We are not the judge of this matter, God is. However, it may be helpful to examine our own lives, in light of scriptural clues that indicate that a person is a believer. Paul recommended such an examination:

2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine your own selves, whether you are in the faith. Test your own selves. Or don’t you know as to your own selves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified. 6 But I hope that you will know that we aren’t disqualified.

The Bible never provides a list of signs that a person is actually saved, but there are clues. Perhaps the material below will be helpful. (To be continued)

The above is an excerpt from my recently self-published e-book, Does the Bible Really Say That?, which may be obtained free of charge, or purchased from Amazon for $0.99, which is the lowest price Amazon lets an author set. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain.

The previous post in this series, which concluded a series on End Times prophecy, is here. God willing, the next post in this series will continue the topic of this post. Thanks for reading.

Things that the Bible tells us are God's will

We are told that we should pray according to God's will, and that He will answer if we are doing so. What, then, is God's will? What are the things that are in God's will? Here's the result of a search for the phrase "will of God," using the English Standard Version for the search. The results are quoted from the public domain World English Bible. There are, no doubt, other things that are also in God's will, but which do not have that phrase associated with them, in the Bible. And, of course, there are situations which are not in the Bible at all where we can be pretty sure of God's will, but the list is just as indicated, with some annotation.

It is God's will that some Christians be called to special service:
2 Corinthians 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the assembly of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia:

1 Corinthians 1:1a Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God

Ephesians 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, to the saints who are at Ephesus, and the faithful in Christ Jesus:

Colossians 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God,

2 Timothy 1:1a Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God,

It is God's will that Christians live godly, holy, sanctified lives, and it is appropriate to pray that other Christians do this:
Romans 12:2 Don’t be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God.

1 Thessalonians 4:3 For this is the will of God: your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality, 4 that each one of you know how to possess himself of his own vessel in sanctification and honor, 5 not in the passion of lust, even as the Gentiles who don’t know God;

Colossians 4:12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, salutes you, always striving for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. 

1 Peter 4:1 Forasmuch then as Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind; for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin;  that you no longer should live the rest of your time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.

It is God's will that Christians do God's will. The last entry in this group indicates that we can receive divine help:
Mark 3:35 For whoever does the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.

Ephesians 6:5 Servants, be obedient to thosing to the flesh are your masters, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as to Christ; 6 not in the way of service only when eyes are on you, as men pleasers; but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart;

1 John 2:17 The world is passing away with its lusts, but he who does God’s will remains forever. 


1 Peter 2:15 For this is the will of God, that by well-doing you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:

2 Corinthians 8:3 For according to their power, I testify, yes and beyond their power, they gave of their own accord, 4 begging us with much entreaty to receive this grace and the fellowship in the service to the saints. 5 This was not as we had hoped, but first they gave their own selves to the Lord, and to us through the will of God.

Romans 8:27 He who searches the hearts knows what is on the Spirit’s mind, because he makes intercession for the saints according to God. [other versions use something like "according to the will of God"]

It is God's will that we be thankful for what God does:
1 Thessalonians 5:18 In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus toward you.

It is God's will that we be redeemed:
Hebrews 10:36 For you need endurance so that, having done the will of God, you may receive the promise.

You may be interested in this post on what the New Testament Christians prayed for. Thanks for reading!

Hawking's Grand Design and God's Not Dead

Stephen Hawking is one of the best-known scientists of our time. When he retired, he was occupying the same professorial chair that Isaac Newton once did. He is also an outspoken atheist.

In 2010, Hawking, in collaboration with Leonard Mlodinow, wrote The Grand Design, which became a best-seller, in spite of its non-fiction status and scientific content. The book argues that it is not necessary to suppose that God created the universe. It also says that "philosophy is dead," and suggests that the search for a unified field theory is futile, so it isn't exactly shy about attacking significant ideas. What they seem to mean by "philosophy is dead" is that some philosophers are not willing to agree with them on all points.

The Grand Design was referred to in the recent movie, God's Not Dead.  (See here for my review of that film. That review includes the pivotal quotation from The Grand Design, which was used in the movie. That quotation is the second and third sentences from the second quotation from the book, below.) God's Not Dead did not claim that the existence of God can be proved, but that His existence cannot be disproved. The Grand Design doesn't disprove God's existence, although the authors seem to think that it does, or that it almost does.

As indicated above, Hawking and Mlodinow weren't bashful. They claim, on page 32, that "recent experiments" have shown that our brains operate according to physical laws. There are no notes in the book, so I don't know what experiments they were referring to, but never mind. What other laws would our brains operate by? They claim that, because our brains operate by physical laws, "[f]ree will is an illusion," (p. 32) but are willing for us to act as if we really did have free will. That's a good thing, because if we don't have free will, Hawking and Mlodinow didn't, either, and they therefore believe the things that they do, not because they are true, but because of the physical laws operating in their brains. (And, by the way, if that discussion isn't a matter for philosophy, I don't know what is.)

The fundamental argument of The Grand Design is that there are really many, very many universes, according to M-theory, and that we exist in one of those that is compatible with life. All those universes came into being somehow, and here we are, in this one, the result of a cosmic accident. There are some serious problems with this notion. One of them is that even Hawking and Mlodinow aren't sure what M-theory is:
No one seems to know what the "M" stands for, but it may be "master," "miracle," or "mystery." It seems to be all three. People are still trying to decipher the nature of M-theory, but that may not be possible. It could be that the physicist's traditional expectation of a single theory of nature is untenable, and there exists no single formulation. It might be that to describe the universe, we have to employ different theories in different situations. Each theory may have its own version of reality, but according to model-dependent realism, that is acceptable so long as the theories agree in their predictions whenever they overlap, that is, whenever they can both be applied. (p. 117)

The above is a quotation from the book. That quotation indicates that, whatever M-theory might be, if it is true here, it isn't true elsewhere. That, and their fuzzy description, don't inspire confidence in science based on M-theory.

Another serious problem is that there is no experimental proof for M-theory and its relatives. Granted, a few decades ago, there was no experimental proof for quarks, which were proposed as a way of making sense out of the many types of sub-atomic particles then thought to exist, and, hence, there was skepticism about their existence. But that skepticism has largely disappeared, and there is experimental evidence for the existence of quarks. However, quarks, so far as we know, are the same everywhere in the universe. Quark theory didn't propose that there were different kinds of quarks, or no quarks at all, in other universes. It's not clear that, even if other universes exist, we can access them in any way, which would be necessary, I think, to vindicate M-theory.

Then there's the matter of gravity. 
Because there is a law like gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing in the manner described in Chapter 6. [Chapter Title - "Choosing Our Universe."] Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist. It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper and set the universe going. (p. 180.)
But why is there gravity? If they explain that, I missed it, or didn't understand it. And even if gravity had the power to make the universe create itself from nothing, wouldn't the powers of gravity be different in all the other different universes, according to their own thesis? So why should other universes exist?

Another serious problem is that scientists, and others, are not universally in agreement with Hawking and Mlodinow's central idea, mostly because of the first two serious problems indicated above.

Peter Woit, of Columbia University, has written a severely critical review of The Grand Design. Woit wrote:
I’m in favor of naturalism and leaving God out of physics as much as the next person, but if you’re the sort who wants to go to battle in the science/religion wars, why you would choose to take up such a dubious weapon as M-theory mystifies me. . . . [T]hinking about it, [I] have to admit that the kind of pseudo-science going on here and being promoted in this book isn’t obviously any better than the faith-based explanations of how the world works favored by conventional religions.
Well put, except that there shouldn't be "science/religion wars." If we really understood God's revelation in Christ, in the Bible, through the church, and in nature (which science unfolds for us) we would see that our existence is best explained by accepting, by faith, that God planned for our universe, and us, to exist. See Hebrews 11:3, which is quoted in the graphic at the top of this post.

I know of no evidence that Woit is a Christian. For other criticisms of the book, see its Wikipedia article.

See also the recent opinion piece in Time, "Why Science Does Not Disprove God."

Thanks for reading!