Friday, July 31, 2009

Living out the Gospel: Part 4 – The way of Obedience

It is ironic in my quest to move away from legalism and fundamentalism, that I am returning to a call for obedience embedded in the Gospel message. Usually there are two sides to this question. One is the legalist who while in their words will say salvation comes by faith in Christ’s atoning work alone will then expect people to live by a certain moral standard reminiscent of Pharisaical law. On the other side are those who question all forms of “duty” or commands expecting obedience in the Gospel and the Christian life, saying we are called to live holy but completely divorce it from the initial salvation experience as if regeneration and sanctification are two completely separate issues. These people have no problem agreeing with the legalists regarding regeneration, but take issue with them on issues surrounding sanctification—emphasizing grace. So which is it?

The answer is both are right and both are wrong. Salvation is by grace through faith alone. But embedded in the call of the Gospel is a call to obedient faithful living. Jesus tells his people to deny themselves, take up their crosses, and follow him (Matt 16:24). Consider also what Paul says;

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. (Col 2:6-7)

It seems there is some connection between faithful living (obedient living) and accepting the Gospel. The two simply go together. LeRoy Eims states:

I have seen people “make decisions,” but when I tried to help them grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, I discovered that they were still dead in their trespasses and sins. They had no spiritual life. I have learned the hard way that it is impossible to disciple a person who is spiritually dead.

Paul stated, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Cor. 5:17). IN order to identify a genuine convert, you must see in him a change of attitude toward Jesus Christ and a change of attitude toward sin. (The Lost Art of Disciple Making, 62)

As Eims goes on to explain, the lordship of Christ may not be fully understood right away, but the desire for Christ and against sin can still be evident. Jesus expects obedience. He expects people to live lives that go against the way of sin, that despise sin and any appearance of it. This is a bigger call than simply accepting deliverance from future eternal judgment.

Monday, July 27, 2009

Living out the Gospel: Part 3 - Message of Prosperity

Even in the midst of teaching the basic gospel message similar to what was put forward in the previous post, some people still believe the result of coming to faith should be one of prosperity.

The argument often goes to a passage that is very often taken out of context; Jeremiah 29:11. Even in that passage the promise is given because the people are finding themselves in the midst of exile, living in a foreign land and in the way of suffering.

Another common misconstrued passage is John 10:10. True Jesus said he came to give us abundant life, but we must ask ourselves what he means by these terms. The context of this verse is referring to the sheep and the door. Jesus is the door that brings the sheep into protection. Jesus will lead them to safe pastures, but only under his care, away from “thieves and robbers.” Given Jesus’ mention of salvation in verse 9, we can understand his meaning of life is in reference to eternal life which he often speaks of throughout John’s Gospel. It is true in John’s Gospel that Jesus is giving life both now and in eternity, that the Gospel is about more than a “future salvation”, so understanding this we can know that the abundant life does apply to this one as well. But allow Scripture to interpret itself. Jesus, in the same Gospel, also warns of hard times to come to those who follow him. I heard Mark Lowry once talk on this verse referring to the fact that before Christ life was full of ups and downs. Come to Christ and your life will be even more full, the ups will be greater, but so can the downs.



As we will talk about in the next post, the Gospel is more than a call to a good life or to deliverance from eternal judgment. It is also a call to faithful obedience to Christ in both good and bad times of life.

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Living out the Gospel: Part 2 – The Evangelical Message

Evangelical tracts, church websites, evangelistic messages in concerts and other crusade type meetings all focus on the same basic principles. Perhaps the most simplified version of these presentations is the famed 4 Spiritual Laws Gospel tract. As a student in college I was required to memorize these 4 laws and be able to present them to a class. While these may be helpful in creating converts, the question is whether they are useful in creating disciples. However, as important a question this may be, they do provide the doctrinal aspects of the Gospel in a rather succinct manner, which is what we will seek to do in this entry.

The basic Gospel message holds to that title--basic. From a doctrinal standpoint, the message is simple. Rather than start where Campus Crusade and Bill Bright did with the 4 Spiritual Laws, we begin at a much earlier starting point--the Fall.

Man was created innocent in the Garden, having full fellowship with God. In Genesis 3, man chose to disobey the one simple command God gave the first couple, and thus sin entered the world. Because of this we are all born in a fallen state, unable to live the holy lives required to be in God’s presence (Rom 5:18-19).

Because God is Holy and Just, he is required to seek justice against the sin of man. The only way for justice is for God to pour out his wrath on man. Thus all are under God’s wrath (Eph. 2:3; Heb 9:27; 2 Thess. 1:6-8).

But God is also merciful, and so to act in accordance with his mercy and love for his creation, he sent his son to bear God’s wrath in our place at the cross (John 3:16). Accepting Christ’s call to believe and follow him results in our salvation from his wrath (Acts 16:31). Jesus death is the payment of our penalty. God’s justice is satisfied, not by being placed on us but on Christ.

The trouble with this presentation is the opportunity for what many call “easy believism.” What is missing from this message is actually in the message but easily overlooked--the call to follow Christ.

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Living out the Gospel: Part 1 - Introduction

What is the Gospel? How do we share it with others? What affect should it have on our lives when we become followers of Christ? What part does the Gospel play in the lives of those who have been Christian for years? These questions have been coming to mind a great deal lately and I have found myself rethinking the common view of the Gospel message in the evangelical church. These next few posts will be an attempt to journey through a process of understanding what the Gospel really is and what we should expect as a result.

The journey into this study started at the beginning of my seminary career, but has not been happening in earnest until the last few months. My upbringing took place in a Baptist church that held to a very typical view of the Gospel – that Christ dies for our sins and if we just believe in him and pray to ask for forgiveness, we will receive salvation. That is the extent. That is what was taught. Then afterward came a long but unwritten list of do’s and don’ts, typical of those churches coming out of the fundamentalist movement. Though the church taught salvation was eternally secure, this holiness view made us live in fear of having “not experienced true salvation” when we first accepted Christ. We lived on constant fear of ensuring our assurance and wariness to never backslide.

Then during my years of college I began to seriously question this “legalistic” form of a baptistic faith. I began to understand the role of grace and forgiveness, that it wasn’t about rules and regulations, but simply living to please Christ in everything we do. While I am convinced this set me on the path to where I am today, I still did not see how the Gospel actually was a part of this “post-salvation-experience” life. The Gospel only applied to those in need of salvation and those who are in process of obtaining salvation.

Then came seminary, and the key word of these years in my experience has been “relationship.” The Christian faith is being redefined from first being a religion, to then being a simple world-view or ‘way of life’ to now being about relationship. This created a significant conflict in my mind as I sought to continue in the journey of separating myself from my once legalistic religion. Then added into the discussion of relationship is the word community. I have come to believe both are important, both are results of the call of the Gospel, but they do not constitute the Gospel.

One last thing; influences. I would like to send out some thank-yous because I have not been going through this thought process alone. Many have stimulated thoughts, guided my thinking, and given feedback. Others have directed me toward some great books on the subject which I will list below. Of particular thanks, one goes to Dr. Roger Peugh at Grace Theological Seminary. He has been thinking through these things for years and has stimulated a great deal of my own thinking on the subject. I will not claim that my conclusions and his are the same, only he can answer that. But he has helped direct me toward particular Scriptures and other books along the way. Also, thanks to a fellow blogger, Jonathan Erdman, for also stimulating many thoughts about my faith. Again, I do not agree with everything he says and writes, but he challenges me on a regular basis. Also, thanks to many classmates and small groups I’ve been in whom I have bounced ideas off of and have also received other ideas from. The number of people in this list could be numerous.

Here are the books that have been helpful along the way (and of which I am sure I will be quoting in the following posts): The Lost Art of Disciple Making, The Master Plan of Evangelism, Mentoring for Mission, Love One Another: Becoming the Church Jesus Longs For, and Sacred Marriage.

Monday, July 6, 2009

Oldest-Known Bible Now Available

What is considered the oldest text of the New Testament known to date has been reassembled and is available online for your free viewing pleasure.

The codex sinaiticus originally was found in the Monastery of St. Catherine but was divided in the mid-1800's among several universities. Now it has been reassembled and is available online for free.

Why is it so important? As noted on the website;

Codex Sinaiticus is one of the most important books in the world. Handwritten well over 1600 years ago, the manuscript contains the Christian Bible in Greek, including the oldest complete copy of the New Testament. Its heavily corrected text is of outstanding importance for the history of the Bible and the manuscript – the oldest substantial book to survive Antiquity – is of supreme importance for the history of the book.


This will be a helpful tool for many New Testament scholars as we seek to continually understand the early church period as well as in the area of textual criticism, opening the doors to many who once found access to these documents difficult.

The website is here.

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Regina Spektor "Laughing With" - thoughts?

I was directed to Josh Harris' blog where he posted this and I found even the comments to the blog interesting. The song is not clear as to whether she is speaking against the vain and even blasphemous mentions of God in everyday speech or if she is truly feeling the absence of God in even the hard times. What are your thoughts?



Laughing With Lyrics:

No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one's laughing at God when they're starving or freezing or so very poor

No one laughs at God when the doctor calls after some routine tests
No one's laughing at God when it's gotten real late and their kid's not back from that party yet

No one laughs at God when their airplane starts to uncontrollably shake
No one's laughing at God when they see the one they love hand in hand with someone else and they hope that they're mistaken
No one laughs at God when the cops knock on their door and they say "We've got some bad new, sir,"
No one's laughing at God when there's a famine, fire or flood

But God can be funny
At a cocktail party while listening to a good God-themed joke or
Or when the crazies say he hates us and they get so red in the head you think that they're about to choke

God can be funny
When told he'll give you money if you just pray the right way
And when presented like a genie
Who does magic like Houdini
Or grants wishes like Jiminy Cricket and Santa Claus

God can be so hilarious
Ha ha
Ha ha

No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one's laughing at God when they've lost all they got and they don't know what for

No one laughs at God on the day they realize that the last sight they'll ever see is a pair of hateful eyes
No one's laughing at God when they're saying their goodbyes

But God can be funny
At a cocktail party while listening to a good God-themed joke or
Or when the crazies say he hates us and they get so red in the head you think that they're about to choke

God can be funny
When told he'll give you money if you just pray the right way
And when presented like a genie
Who does magic like Houdini
Or grants wishes like Jiminy Cricket and Santa Claus

God can be so hilarious

No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war

No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war

No one's laughing at God in a hospital
No one's laughing at God in a war

No one's laughing at God when they're starving or freezing or so very poor

No one's laughing at God
No one's laughing at God
No one's laughing at God
We're all laughing with God

Laughing With by Regina Spektor from the album Far