To Divide Or Not To Divide

I'm listening to Brian Broderson go through Ephesians now and thought I'd share these thoughts that were also in one of his talks. Its a good thing now and then to get a healthy reminder that Christ and the cross are central and of vital importance.

So here goes.

There's a lot of division among those who claim to be Christian today. There is a lot of it within the actual body of Christ and even more among all who claim the label of Christian. Division of the latter is completely appropriate, because there are some essentials that are, well, essential. Without them, the label will be just that -- a label. Division over the latter is rather pointless though. Too often folks part ways because of issues that are not key. And when we cannot agree to disagree amiably, it certainly doesn't do much to draw unbelievers in to church buildings.

I'd like to go through some of the essentials versus non-essentials.

The essentials:

1. There is one God.

2. That God exists in three persons, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

3. Jesus is God.

4. Jesus died for our sins.

5. Jesus was born of a virgin. If the savior was conceived with a human father and not the Holy Spirit, than Jesus is a sinful person just like us and not the Son of God. He would not be able to save us in that case.

6. Jesus led a sinless life. Same argument.

7. Jesus rose from the dead in bodily form. Without this we have no guarantee that anything Jesus said was true. We have no guarantee that the sacrifice he made to pay the price for our sins was acceptable.

8. We are saved by grace through faith. We can't do anything on our own to get right with God. If any human effort could make us right with God, than Jesus died for nothing.

Some non-essentials:

1. Modes of baptism. Immersion versus sprinkling. Adults versus infants.

2. Ministry models. Bishop rule versus elder rule versus congregational rule.

3. Eschatology (end-times). Amillennial versus post-millennial versus pre-millennial views. Pre-tribulation versus mid-tribulation versus post-tribulation views.

4. Gifts of the Holy Spirit.

5. Human freedom versus God's sovereignty.

6. Eternal security.

7. Creation of the Earth (6 literal days versus millions of years).

There are many more non-essentials. I'm sure if one thinks hard there are more essentials, but this is just an example of the kinds of things we should and should not split over. Really I haven't even given much thought to most of those non-essentials, other than the beginning and end of the world. I listed because they are just that, non-essential. Bickering over them distracts from the central message of the cross.

Grace and Peace

Ations

There are those who want to dumb down the Bible for people because "some words just don't make sense today to the post-modern man" or some such other nonsense. Typically these are in the same group who want to embrace those in groups teaching false doctrine, who want to deny the vital importance of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, who want to call the deity of Christ into question, who want to deny the reality of judgment and hell. Of course they want to dumb down the Bible -- because they want a watered down Christianity that is on par with other religions of the world that should be considered as valid as Christianity. Rubbish.

Enough ranting, I thought I'd just take the time to clear up some of the big "ations" that are at the heart of the gospel.

Salvation. This is the gospel in a word. In a sentence I would say that Jesus came into the world to die as an atoning sacrifice to pay for the sins of the world and then rose again, so that those who put their faith in him and follow him will be made right with God and inherit eternal life. Salvation is gained by grace through faith in Christ.

Interesting though that when the Bible talks about being saved, it talks about it in three ways. We've been saved, we're being saved, and we will be saved. And all three can be summed up with a few more ations:

Justification. We've been saved. We're freed from the guilt and bondage of sin and made right with God. We get Christ's righteousness imputed to us. It happens the moment we receive God's free gift. I remember when it happened for me distinctly. I have experiential evidence that God took my heart of stone out and put in a heart of flesh.

Sanctification. We're being saved. Though we're freed from sin, we're not perfect. Sanctification is being free from the pollution of sin. This is a lifelong process that starts the moment we receive Christ and makes us more like him. We have to cooperate in this process and some days go better than others. The Holy Spirit prompts us to move in certain directions and do or not do certain things and we should listen to him.

Glorification. We will be saved. This is when we're completely freed from the presence of sin and will happens when Christ returns and we go to be with the Lord.

A website I came across put it this way:

Justification delivers us from the penalty of sin and requires one act of faith, establishing our position with God. Sanctification delivers us from the power of sin and requires many acts of faith, transforming our condition. Glorification delivers us from the presence of sin and requires no act of faith, matching our condition with our position.

That doesn't seem so complicated to me. I think some just want to make the word of God fit their beliefs and can't do that without dumbing it down to make their false beliefs about Christ square up. Some even think the word "saved" is "too harsh". Well, its used all over the New Testament, so I think we'll stick with that -- and keep the rest of it too.

Grace and Peace

The Trinity And Jesus

Lots of folks don't get, or don't accept, the Trinity for various reasons. I fear that those reasons sometimes can hurt the understanding of Jesus' nature as well. The truth is none of us limited humans are going to fully understand the nature of God completely, being humans, but we can look to the Word of God and do the best we can. So I thought I'd write up a little bit of the limited understanding I have of the Trinity and Jesus from a Biblical perspective.

1. The Bible says that there is one true sovereign God who created the heavens and the earth.

2. The Bible says that the Father is God, that Jesus is God, and that the Holy Spirit is God.

3. The Bible says that Jesus was also a man.

So far, from this, we can conclude the following:

1. There is one God comprised of three beings, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. I.e. three persons in one divine nature. While Jesus is the Son, but He is also eternal and equal in essence with the Father and with the Holy Spirit. There are parts of the Bible where Jesus, while here on the earth as a man, appears subordinate to the Father -- that does NOT take away from the divine nature of Jesus! For example, a human father and child are equally human, but the father holds a higher position than the child. Well, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are equally divine as well; how they operate together in their interactions with each other and with man has no bearing on their nature.

2. Jesus is a being with two natures, divine and human. He is fully God, and was fully man for a short time on this earth. Did Jesus know about His second coming? As God yes, but as man, no. Did Jesus know all things? As God yes, but as man, no. Did Jesus get hungry? As God no, but as man, yes. In His divine nature, Jesus is equal to the Father, but in His human nature, Jesus is subordinate to the Father.

Can we as believers ever really understand this completely? Not during our stay here on earth at least! Does the complicated nature of the Trinity make it illogical? No! Its in line with the Bible. Does the complicated nature of the of the Trinty make it untrue? No! If someone was in the business of inventing religions, then that someone could go make up something a lot easier than this! However, we as believers are not in that business; we must believe what the Bible shows us to be true, even if it is complicated!

Does that mean we've got the nature of God totally right in our understanding of the Trinity? Maybe, but probably not. Does that mean we need to believe in the doctrine of the Trinity to be saved? Hardly, but it sure does help understand who Jesus is and what He did for us! Here we have Almighty God coming down to earth to be born as a human in the most humble of circumstances so He could later die a terrible and humiliating death on the cross as an atoning sacrifices for the sins of the world. Talk about humility! Talk about love!

Thank you Jesus!

What's A Christian?

The word "Christian" appears to have lost a lot of significance over the years and is used by people who don't really believe in or trust in Jesus Christ, but consider themselves to be Christian anyway just because they go to church or live in a "Christian" country.

Let's set the record straight.

Going to church does not make someone a Christian. Giving money to a church does not make someone a Christian. Being a "good person" does not make someone a Christian. Serving others does not make someone a Christian. Following a fixed set of rules for moral behavior does not make someone a Christian. Having Christian family members does not make someone a Christian.

A Christian is someone who has repented of his or her sins, has truly put their faith in Jesus Christ alone, and has been born-again by God.

If someone has truly repented, has put their faith in Jesus Christ alone, and has been born-again by God, they will bear good fruit. That good fruit includes going to church, giving money to support their local church, being a "good person", serving others, living a moral lifestyle, and so on. These are the things that come from being a Christian, not the things that make one a Christian.

Essentials

Thought I would summarize what I got from the first 10 essentials videos Duncan put together:

1. The Purpose Of Life. The purpose of life is to glorify God.

2. What's man's problem? Man's big problem is he always breaks God's moral law and falls short of God's glory. We're all in the same category, lawbreakers, sinners.

3. The Substitute. God does have to punish lawbreakers; He does not have to forgive anyone; however, He loves us and sent His Son to be the atoning sacrifice [propitiation] for our sins. Propitiation = a sacrifice that turns away God's anger, and makes him favourable to us.

4. Redemption. Jesus bought slaves [us] on the cross, for we were slaves to sin, the result of which is death. This is an inescapable prison for us. The ransom price is too high for us, but not for Jesus. He gave his life as a ransom for many so that our sins may be forgiven. Our response should be to accept what He did, put our trust in Him, and glorify God!

5. Justification. Justification is a legal delcaration of "not guilty". The opposite is condemnation. If you trust Jesus to save you, then you are justified before the Father. The two parts to justification are 1) the forgiveness of sins (taking away the -s) and 2) imputation of Christ's righteousness (adding on +s). Justification is entirely by grace (unmerited favour -- given something you don't deserve), not by works -- so no one can boast.

6. Adopted. Contrary to myth, we're not all God's children Biblically. We get the right to become children of God when we have faith in Jesus. I.e. faith is the means by which we are adopted. God relates to us as a father by loving us, showing compassion to us, knowing our needs, giving gifts to us, giving us an inheritance, disciplining us, leading us by His spirit, and making us aware of our adoption. We relate to God as His children by praying to Him, asking for forgiveness, imitating our Father, and suffering for God. Remember also that other believers are family.

7. Conversion. Someone becomes a Christian by 1) trusting in Jesus for forgiveness of sins and eternal life and 2) repenting (turn from sin) and turning to God, performing deeds in keeping with his/her repentance. The point isn't to clean things up and then turn to Jesus -- turn to him and ask Him to help you!

8. Unable to come. Man is unable to come to God on his own. Man is spiritually dead, does wrong from birth, has evil thoughts, has a heard heart, is under the power of the devil, suppresses the truth, does not understand God, and does not seek God. Without God's work in a person's life, they will never come to Jesus (you can't manipulate people into being Christians -- God does that, not men -- nor can you boast that you turned to Christ).

9. Drawn by the Father. Man is unable to come (to believe). The Father can draw people to Jesus. Salvation is a work of God. God opens hearts, gives repentance, and gives faith. Its all God. No one can boast about turning to Christ; therefore, no Christian should ever look down on a non-Christian. Also, since its all God, this means everyone should be given the gospel, not just people that WE think might accept it.

10. Chosen by Grace. You did not choose God, He chose you. It was not based on anything good you would do. It was based on grace and mercy. God is free to distribute mercy as He wants. If He did not choose anyone, then no-one would ever turn to Christ. This doctrine should lead to praise.

Note that 9 and 10 deal with the doctrine of election. This is a tough one to get my head around. The following articles helped me understand it better:

http://www.albatrus.org/english/theology/soteriology/salvation_doctrine.htm

http://www.bible.org/page.php?page_id=1551