Essay on human theology
My desire for all of the dispersed communities of faith--the Bride of Jesus--is that we seek for the unity that Jesus prayed for in his high priestly prayer in John 17. While I am sensitive to and appreciate the distinctiveness of certain, Bible-based traditions of fellowship, I also am grieved by the divisions within the Bride.
I honestly believe that any who call upon the name of Jesus (or...in more generic terms...seek deliverance/salvation from THE Supreme Being) will be heard based on the sincerity and truthfulness of their search. What happens next is between God and them. Perhaps God will accept their worship just as--according to the epistle to the Hebrews--he accepted the Law-based worship of the Jews before Jesus came: through the lens of hope for God to provide an eternal solution to sin when they could no longer sacrifice animals.
I specifically lift up Jesus Christ (and him crucified) precisely because I am instructed to do so by the Bible. I look for signs of faithful pronouncements of trust in God above all else and I HOPE for signs of trust in the blood of Jesus. I encourage an outright, PUBLIC statement of faith and continued living of a public life centered on Jesus Christ. Not showy....just in front of others.
But I won't sit on the Throne of Heaven and determine who is in and who is not. We know who does that, and we know that there is a sword coming from his mouth that splits asunder the flesh and the spirit...and he and he alone is worthy to judge.
If by God's grace he judges that ALL will be saved, I will rejoice with Jesus in that decision. If by God's grace the portrayal that Calvinist-leaning Baptists and Reformed most often use of a special portion...a remnant that is determined in advance...is all that is saved, I will rejoice with Jesus in that decision. If by God's grace the portrayal of the Arminians--everyone who WILL come of their own faith struggles because God is not WILLING that any should perish--then I will rejoice in that! I lean towards the Calvinistic view, but I don't preach it.
I trust God to figure it out. I feel led by him to not worry about it. I also feel led by him to live my faith--based on Biblical patterns of living and worship alone--aloud for the sake of others. I don't try to hide who I am and I try to emphasize precisely what we are asked to emphasize by the Bible.
The distinction between a "regenerated" person and an "unregenerated" person just doesn't get a lot of Bible time. The term "free will" seems notably absent as well. The concepts of "sacramentally administered grace" is especially difficult to find in my opinion. But coming as children and confession and repentance and faith gets a LOT of discussion. Election is there, but it seems to me to be a a matter of confirmation rather than a method of selection. We can TRUST in our membership in this body because God's intention puts us there and keeps us there.
We are confirmed as part of the elect because of who we put our visible faith in. I still firmly believe in God's sovereignty, though, so I personally read that the 'elect' is 'selected' from the beginning of the universe. As someone who leans towards Calvinism, I'm willing to be wrong on that doctrine. I don't view it as being of pre-eminent importance within the body of doctrine we are called on to preach and to teach. I even wonder if it is one of those Mysteries of God that we really shouldn't be tampering with or talking about at all.
Jesus didn't tell us to figure out who is and who isn't in the elect. He asked us to broadcast the seed onto all of the soil. He asked us to baptize and to disciple ALL who we can. He didn't write down his systematic theology. He LIVED it aloud.
This post is a call for a return to the simplicity and clarity of the Good News that Jesus lived for us. Eschew contentious religious debate among believers. Seek unity if at all possible. Let's be part of those who desire that the High Priestly prayer is fulfilled instead of seeking reasons to parse words and shade meanings and divide the Bride.
That's where Yancey's "What's So Amazing About Grace" really hit home for me. What's so amazing about grace is that God's grace never runs dry. More of it pours out every day and bubbles joyfully into our lives...all of our lives. I believe that just as the rain falls on the good and the bad, so God's grace affects everyone. In SPITE of the things we do wrong (but not to spite us), God rains down grace daily.
That isn't to say that everyone comes to a saving knowledge/faith in Jesus because of it, but what skin is it off of MY nose if God chose to save everyone? None. I'd be delighted if he found a way to do that without violating his character or our free will. Nay...I'd sing songs to him for ETERNITY if he did!! I have many unsaved friends...MANY. I want them to come to know Jesus as Lord and as Savior. I grieve that some might not.
That is the heart of Jesus in me loving HIS creation. It's the Father sending me to gather the bride for HIS son. It's the Spirit motivating me to emphasize love above all else. It's a God thing through and through.
I'll leave the Mysteries of God in God's hand until he chooses to fully explain them to me. I'll contentedly see through a glass dimly until then. I'll wait with GREAT expectation for the AH-HA!! surprise when we arrive at the wedding feast.
I won't be dour. I won't emphasize works. I won't add to the clear word of Scripture in order to feel smart or grown up in my faith. I'll be enTHUSiastic because THEOS is in me. And I'll pour out grace wherever I'm allowed to administer the Gospel to a dead and dying world.
Yes...sin is real...yes it must be confronted. Perhaps the only way to really appreciate God's grace in the final hour is to realize how much God has done and how little we do to achieve salvation.
But that's not the Gospel Jesus preached: "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." (John 18:3 ESV). When I talk to my children about salvation, they don't mention sacraments or the Trinity or regeneration. They talk about God caring for us as his PRIMARY attribute.
For some reason...I agree with them.
I honestly believe that any who call upon the name of Jesus (or...in more generic terms...seek deliverance/salvation from THE Supreme Being) will be heard based on the sincerity and truthfulness of their search. What happens next is between God and them. Perhaps God will accept their worship just as--according to the epistle to the Hebrews--he accepted the Law-based worship of the Jews before Jesus came: through the lens of hope for God to provide an eternal solution to sin when they could no longer sacrifice animals.
I specifically lift up Jesus Christ (and him crucified) precisely because I am instructed to do so by the Bible. I look for signs of faithful pronouncements of trust in God above all else and I HOPE for signs of trust in the blood of Jesus. I encourage an outright, PUBLIC statement of faith and continued living of a public life centered on Jesus Christ. Not showy....just in front of others.
But I won't sit on the Throne of Heaven and determine who is in and who is not. We know who does that, and we know that there is a sword coming from his mouth that splits asunder the flesh and the spirit...and he and he alone is worthy to judge.
If by God's grace he judges that ALL will be saved, I will rejoice with Jesus in that decision. If by God's grace the portrayal that Calvinist-leaning Baptists and Reformed most often use of a special portion...a remnant that is determined in advance...is all that is saved, I will rejoice with Jesus in that decision. If by God's grace the portrayal of the Arminians--everyone who WILL come of their own faith struggles because God is not WILLING that any should perish--then I will rejoice in that! I lean towards the Calvinistic view, but I don't preach it.
I trust God to figure it out. I feel led by him to not worry about it. I also feel led by him to live my faith--based on Biblical patterns of living and worship alone--aloud for the sake of others. I don't try to hide who I am and I try to emphasize precisely what we are asked to emphasize by the Bible.
The distinction between a "regenerated" person and an "unregenerated" person just doesn't get a lot of Bible time. The term "free will" seems notably absent as well. The concepts of "sacramentally administered grace" is especially difficult to find in my opinion. But coming as children and confession and repentance and faith gets a LOT of discussion. Election is there, but it seems to me to be a a matter of confirmation rather than a method of selection. We can TRUST in our membership in this body because God's intention puts us there and keeps us there.
We are confirmed as part of the elect because of who we put our visible faith in. I still firmly believe in God's sovereignty, though, so I personally read that the 'elect' is 'selected' from the beginning of the universe. As someone who leans towards Calvinism, I'm willing to be wrong on that doctrine. I don't view it as being of pre-eminent importance within the body of doctrine we are called on to preach and to teach. I even wonder if it is one of those Mysteries of God that we really shouldn't be tampering with or talking about at all.
Jesus didn't tell us to figure out who is and who isn't in the elect. He asked us to broadcast the seed onto all of the soil. He asked us to baptize and to disciple ALL who we can. He didn't write down his systematic theology. He LIVED it aloud.
This post is a call for a return to the simplicity and clarity of the Good News that Jesus lived for us. Eschew contentious religious debate among believers. Seek unity if at all possible. Let's be part of those who desire that the High Priestly prayer is fulfilled instead of seeking reasons to parse words and shade meanings and divide the Bride.
That's where Yancey's "What's So Amazing About Grace" really hit home for me. What's so amazing about grace is that God's grace never runs dry. More of it pours out every day and bubbles joyfully into our lives...all of our lives. I believe that just as the rain falls on the good and the bad, so God's grace affects everyone. In SPITE of the things we do wrong (but not to spite us), God rains down grace daily.
That isn't to say that everyone comes to a saving knowledge/faith in Jesus because of it, but what skin is it off of MY nose if God chose to save everyone? None. I'd be delighted if he found a way to do that without violating his character or our free will. Nay...I'd sing songs to him for ETERNITY if he did!! I have many unsaved friends...MANY. I want them to come to know Jesus as Lord and as Savior. I grieve that some might not.
That is the heart of Jesus in me loving HIS creation. It's the Father sending me to gather the bride for HIS son. It's the Spirit motivating me to emphasize love above all else. It's a God thing through and through.
I'll leave the Mysteries of God in God's hand until he chooses to fully explain them to me. I'll contentedly see through a glass dimly until then. I'll wait with GREAT expectation for the AH-HA!! surprise when we arrive at the wedding feast.
I won't be dour. I won't emphasize works. I won't add to the clear word of Scripture in order to feel smart or grown up in my faith. I'll be enTHUSiastic because THEOS is in me. And I'll pour out grace wherever I'm allowed to administer the Gospel to a dead and dying world.
Yes...sin is real...yes it must be confronted. Perhaps the only way to really appreciate God's grace in the final hour is to realize how much God has done and how little we do to achieve salvation.
But that's not the Gospel Jesus preached: "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." (John 18:3 ESV). When I talk to my children about salvation, they don't mention sacraments or the Trinity or regeneration. They talk about God caring for us as his PRIMARY attribute.
For some reason...I agree with them.
posted by greg.w.h@10:33 AM link-to-post
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