Many critics of Christianity make it seem that God is standoffish and does not wish for the good of mankind. The bible shows that the Christian God far from being standoffish is constantly active in pursuing fallen mankind with the offer of reconciliation.
God is not disinterested in the problems of mankind. God has constant and active interest bringing people into true joy. The true joy of mankind can only be found in right relation to God.
God actively offers salvation to all. He is active with the offer. It is we who are standoffish.
The charges of ill will that mankind often levels against God are baseless. The only base of the charges is that it is true that there is ill will, but the ill will comes from the accusers who do not wish to see the true nature of God.
The gospel shows that the son of God laid down his life for his enemies. That is the nature of God.
Showing posts with label salvation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label salvation. Show all posts
Saturday, August 15, 2015
Saturday, August 23, 2014
Law Fulfilled in Christ
The ceremonial law was fulfilled in Christ. The whole sacrificial system and system of ritual purity was made obsolete as Jesus perfectly kept the entirety of the law and gave himself up for us.
Jesus' perfect life, death, and resurrection marked the end of the need for the keeping of the sacrificial and ritual law. In fact the New Testament goes further saying that it is a sin to suggest others need to keep the ritual law as part of a walk of faith. It is a stumbling block which minimizes the absolute nature of Jesus' victory over death.
In Jesus we are a new creation awaiting the eternal joy of fellowship with God in heaven. We should not doubt our salvation as if our sin can keep us from God. Our righteousness is Jesus who is in heaven seated at the right hand of God.
Our works flow from faith through the world of the Spirit of God in us. Our works are acts which naturally flow from our salvation, not part of our salvation.
We can trust in Jesus' saving blood and then move to works. Focusing on works without a focus on grace is foolish. Because works flow from grace, it is our union with Christ which produces works.
Often it is easy to look at our life and try to think how we can be better followers of God. There is some truth to the approach, but often it is better simply to look to God and be transformed by his nature and grace.
Good works naturally flow from a transformed heart. Often the approach of looking at our life and thinking how we can live better has little effect because it does not change the fundamental issues in our heart. If we look to God and his nature and love, this changes us and often has more affect than simply looking at our life and asking how we might live better.
Jesus' perfect life, death, and resurrection marked the end of the need for the keeping of the sacrificial and ritual law. In fact the New Testament goes further saying that it is a sin to suggest others need to keep the ritual law as part of a walk of faith. It is a stumbling block which minimizes the absolute nature of Jesus' victory over death.
In Jesus we are a new creation awaiting the eternal joy of fellowship with God in heaven. We should not doubt our salvation as if our sin can keep us from God. Our righteousness is Jesus who is in heaven seated at the right hand of God.
Our works flow from faith through the world of the Spirit of God in us. Our works are acts which naturally flow from our salvation, not part of our salvation.
We can trust in Jesus' saving blood and then move to works. Focusing on works without a focus on grace is foolish. Because works flow from grace, it is our union with Christ which produces works.
Often it is easy to look at our life and try to think how we can be better followers of God. There is some truth to the approach, but often it is better simply to look to God and be transformed by his nature and grace.
Good works naturally flow from a transformed heart. Often the approach of looking at our life and thinking how we can live better has little effect because it does not change the fundamental issues in our heart. If we look to God and his nature and love, this changes us and often has more affect than simply looking at our life and asking how we might live better.
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Ethics as a result of Faith
The flow of biblical teaching today has moved more and more from teaching about salvation to teaching about morality.
The flow of life has of course gone from more moral to less and less moral.
Why? Why is the teaching of morality not preventing the collapse of right living?
The reality is that ethics is not something that can be taught it is something which flows from the power of God living in man.
If you want to make a man good you cannot do so by telling him what it means to be good. He will only become good when he meets the living God.
The reality is the more morality is proclaimed by the church the less grace is. And morality is always dependent on grace.
The flow of life has of course gone from more moral to less and less moral.
Why? Why is the teaching of morality not preventing the collapse of right living?
The reality is that ethics is not something that can be taught it is something which flows from the power of God living in man.
If you want to make a man good you cannot do so by telling him what it means to be good. He will only become good when he meets the living God.
The reality is the more morality is proclaimed by the church the less grace is. And morality is always dependent on grace.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Salvation
One of the most interesting commercials I have seen explicitly stated what our culture takes for granted. At the end of the commercial a little boy says, "Everyone just wants to do the right thing." If this were true we would not need Jesus but the reality is we often desire the wrng thing. There are no good people that the world keeps speaking of. A good man isn't just hard to find he is impossible to find, except for Jesus who is sinless and eternally God and Man. The good news is that Jesus offers s what we cannot do ourselves if we will simple allow him to do do all the work. Faith is saying, "I cannot be right before God by my strength, I cannot pay my debt - Jesus do for me what I cannot do myself." As scripture records one man of faith, "Jesus have mercy on me a sinner."
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Conviction of Sin
A quote from Gresham Machen:
“Modern preachers are trying to bring men into the church without requiring them to relinquish their pride; they are trying to help men avoid the conviction of sin.” Consequently, the church “is busily engaged in an absolutely impossible task—she is busily engaged in calling the righteous to repentance.”
If we take the offense out of the gospel we rob the gospel all its power. Christianity has no power unless it first demolishes the foundation of self reliance in our life. This is the offense of Christianity - we must first deal with the unpleasant condition of our heart before we can accept Jesus. Jesus did not come into the world to save the "healthy". Instead Jesus came to save the sick. We are all spiritually bankrupt. The good news is that Jesus is interested in spiritually bankrupt people. The only question is if we are willing to admit our spiritual bankruptcy to Jesus and ask for his death to cover our sin.
“Modern preachers are trying to bring men into the church without requiring them to relinquish their pride; they are trying to help men avoid the conviction of sin.” Consequently, the church “is busily engaged in an absolutely impossible task—she is busily engaged in calling the righteous to repentance.”
If we take the offense out of the gospel we rob the gospel all its power. Christianity has no power unless it first demolishes the foundation of self reliance in our life. This is the offense of Christianity - we must first deal with the unpleasant condition of our heart before we can accept Jesus. Jesus did not come into the world to save the "healthy". Instead Jesus came to save the sick. We are all spiritually bankrupt. The good news is that Jesus is interested in spiritually bankrupt people. The only question is if we are willing to admit our spiritual bankruptcy to Jesus and ask for his death to cover our sin.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
"Everyone wants to do the right thing."
A commercial a few months back features a young boy saying, "Everyone wants to do the right thing." If this were true we would not need a savior.
We must come to grips with the fact that we are sinners and we are in need of being saved from ourselves. It is only when we accept that we cannot earn our salvation that we can accept Christ's free gift to us.
The heart is evil above all things. We sin because it is our nature as fallen people to do so.
The heart of mankind is dark because he has rebelled against God. Man is in need of a savior because of his rebellion.
The love of God is that God has sent his son to bridge the gap for those who will look to him and his work.
The failure of modern moral education is that the moral education has a bad foundation. The goodness of mankind on which the education is based does not have basis in reality.
The scope of the problem is everywhere ignored in academia and the media. It is always assumed that education will fix everything.
Education does improved things, but it does not change the fundamental issue. My might educate a person to improve their quality of life, but the sinful heart remains.
It is grace flowing from the power of the gospel that changes people.
We must come to grips with the fact that we are sinners and we are in need of being saved from ourselves. It is only when we accept that we cannot earn our salvation that we can accept Christ's free gift to us.
The heart is evil above all things. We sin because it is our nature as fallen people to do so.
The heart of mankind is dark because he has rebelled against God. Man is in need of a savior because of his rebellion.
The love of God is that God has sent his son to bridge the gap for those who will look to him and his work.
The failure of modern moral education is that the moral education has a bad foundation. The goodness of mankind on which the education is based does not have basis in reality.
The scope of the problem is everywhere ignored in academia and the media. It is always assumed that education will fix everything.
Education does improved things, but it does not change the fundamental issue. My might educate a person to improve their quality of life, but the sinful heart remains.
It is grace flowing from the power of the gospel that changes people.
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Tim Keller Quote
"The gospel is: you are more sinful and flawed than you ever dared believe yet you can be more accepted and loved than you ever dared hope at the same time because Jesus Christ lived and died in your place. ..."
—Tim Keller
Sunday, August 20, 2006
John Piper Quote on Forgiveness
A bit from a John Piper sermon I really liked:
Saving faith means believing that God's forgiveness is an awesome thing! Saving faith looks at the horror of sin and then looks at holiness of God and believes that God's forgiveness is a staggering beauty and unspeakably glorious. Faith in God's forgiveness does not merely mean confidence that I am off the hook. It means confidence that this is the most precious thing in the world. That's why I use the word cherish. Saving faith cherishes being forgiven by God.
And there's the link with the battle against bitterness. You can go on holding a grudge if your faith simply means you are off the hook. But if faith means standing in awe of being forgiven by God, then you can't go on holding a grudge. You have fallen in love with mercy. It's your life. So you battle bitterness by fighting for the faith that stands in awe of God's forgiveness of your sins.
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