As a doctor evaluates all aspects of your body during a physical, we help you evaluate all aspects of your walk with Christ. The Christian faith requires a certain amount of knowledge in order love God and love others. If we are to love God, then we have to know who he is; we have to know his message (the Gospel); and we have to know something about how he brings us from an unbeliever to be with him eternally.
Kings had it. Princes were trained to get it. Others coveted it to the point that they would go to war to get a piece of it. Because of it, a king could make you or break you with a single word. Many of them lorded it over their subjects.
Today, generals, drill instructors, and the President of the United States have it. So do corporate executives, legislators with the keys to the purse strings, and your mom and dad … and if you are a mom or dad you have it.
Many of us know what it is like to have the power of making a final decision on something and can relate to the sign on Harry Truman’s desk “The buck stops here.”
So in one sense, we can understand how God has complete control over everything and everyone because in the small slice of our world, we have it. Yet on another level, we have no idea what it is like to have the sovereign power that he holds.
One of the things we try to accomplish with this blog is to help people walk with Jesus. We write about how to think about God, how to reflect his image, and how to convey his word. We help people think through sticky, sometimes controversial theological concepts, learn a thing or two about discipleship and what it means to worship God.
One of the things that we haven't touched on yet is how we interpret Scripture. Since Scripture is the basis on God's special revelation, it would be important to learn how to rightly divide his word.
I ran across this blog post that helps us do that very thing. The author of the blog, Justin Taylor, asked Gerald Bray who is a Research Professor at Beeson Divinity School at Samford University, and director of research for the Latimer Trust, which questions do we need to ask when looking at a biblical text.
This is the way many people believe that they will get to heaven. It sounds fair doesn’t it? As long as you aren’t an axe murderer, rapist, or child molester, you’re good. On the surface this looks good, but let’s dig deeper and ask:
How hard do you have to work?
What are the right things?
Who makes these types of decisions?
For instance, the Aztecs believed child sacrifice was a “right thing.” Will killing innocent children to appease God get them into heaven? They thought so.
Muslim countries that adhere to shia law believe women should wear burkas, not work nor drive. Westerners see this as oppressive and not the right thing to do. What’s one to do?
The Bible guides offers a clear answer to these questions. Warning: this answer is counter-intuitive. It cuts against our pride and the good old Protestant work ethic.
There is nothing we can do or offer God to get to heaven. It is all up to him. Consider, “he saved us, not be of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy…” (Titus 3:5) or “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)
God is the one making the decisions through his mercy, not our works; through a gift of his grace, not through anything that we can offer. It’s all about him, his desires, and his will.
The Bible tells us that our even best works are “polluted garments.” (Isaiah 64:6) This is a very nice way of saying “menstrual garments”, as the original readers would have metaphorically understood. Think about that for a minute. When the light of God’s perfect glory shines upon our best efforts, they don’t reflect what we believe what they reflect. Rather it reflects every bit of its imperfection.
So, even if you work really hard and do all the “right things” as you define them, you remain in the same boat as those who don’t lift a finger and do bad things.
Discouraged? Feel that justice has been thrown out the window? Check out this post.
What are your thoughts? How have you explained this to others?
This may be one of the most difficult things to understand about grace. The essence of grace is unmerited favor. That is there is nothing one can do to earn favor. You can’t behave into it, you can’t buy into it, nor can you wish your way into it. You are at the complete and utter mercy of the sovereign decision maker to receive it.
Have you ever wondered why God chose the Israelites as “his treasured possession, out of all the peoples on the face of the earth.”? (Deuteronomy 7:6) Was it because they were the biggest or strongest or was it because of the Israelite’s desire? No, it was because God simply loved them and promised to Abraham that a great nation would come from him. (Deuteronomy 7:7)
Abraham was certainly among many people living at the time God chose him to be the father of the faith, yet Scripture gives us no indication that he deserved it. God simply chose him. (Genesis 12:1-3)
Examine Your Knowledge