"Therefore, since we have
been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in
which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God."
Romans 5: 1-2
In my weekly discipleship class, folks are asked to listen to a lecture, complete some rather difficult reflective questions, and occasionally complete an assignment before coming back the next week. Perhaps the one outside assignment that causes the most difficulty asks each participant to explain the practical implications of justification by faith.
I truly believe this assignment is fairly straight-forward. The week before we discuss the importance of passive righteousness (the essence of justification by
faith in Christ alone) as well as how such passive righteousness answers our constant struggle to justify
ourselves (the practical implications for justification by faith).
As Luther
states, receiving passive righteous found in justification is like the ground
soaking up the rain. The ground brings nothing and does nothing, but it
receives the rain that falls upon it. In the same way, our soul is dry,
thirsty ground that merely receives the rain of the Spirit that falls by grace!
Not only
is Luther's illustration vivid, but it is also helpful. Every time I try
to make myself look better in the eyes of others by shading the truth or
attempting to justify my actions, every time I get angry when I am
disrespected, every time I make excuses to prove others are at fault for my
failings, I am forgetting that God's grace is abundant to me and I am
attempting to establish my own rightness or righteousness.
The
practical implication of justification by faith is freedom. When properly
understood and lived, freedom brings joy!
Anyway,
as I start each class, I discover quickly I am completely wrong! The vast majority of folks who take this class think this assignment is really hard. They struggle to find a recent example
in their life where they labored to find righteousness. They blame the
way the question is asked for their failings. They tell me how busy they
were and how they could not complete this assignment. In the end, most
do not complete the assignment.
Wow! Each of these folks prove that they have many examples where they struggled
to apply the practical implications of justification by faith. They made
excuses, offered justifications, blamed me, blamed the assignment and its
wording, and finally quit and did not finish the assignment.
Each of these actions are evidence of our struggle to attain and keep righteousness before others. Each of these actions illustrate a heart that does not cling to Jesus for righteousness, but seeks to attain our own through our actions and behavior. Such actions are a very real human condition issue.
Think
about it.
I wonder
how many other folks in our world make excuses, offer justification, blame
everyone but themselves, and finally quit trying every day? I wonder if
your neighbors or annoying co-worker have these same struggles? What
about the crabby person how waited on you at lunch?
It sounds
to me like all of us need the grace of God! All of us struggle to find
and live in our own righteousness. We do anything we can to maintain our
reputation. We do what we can to prove that we are in the right.
In other
words, all of us need the gospel. All of us need to preach the gospel of
unmerited grace found in Christ to ourselves daily. This is a message for
all. It levels the ground between believer and unbeliever. It also
points to the common cure- the Lord Jesus Christ! We need Him.
Lord have mercy upon us and help us to believe! We believe Lord,
help our unbelief.
SAVING FAITH COMES FROM HEARING GOD'S WORD
ReplyDeleteDo men receive faith, that saves, because God arbitrarily bestows them with faith? Does God predetermined who will be saved and them cause them to have faith so they can be saved? No and No.
Faith comes from hearing God's word preached.
Romans 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.(NKJV)
Romans 10:14 How they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?(NKJV)
Faith comes when men believe the gospel. Faith is not forced on men by God.
MISUNDERSTOOD PROOF-TEXT EPHESIANS 2:8
Ephesians 2:8 is used to prove that faith is a gift from God, however, that is not what is says.
Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is a gift of God,(NKJV)
Salvation is the gift from God. Faith is not the gift.
Mark 16:16 "He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.
Why would Jesus condemn men who do not believe if God is the one who arbitrarily bestows faith on men so they can be saved?
To have faith that Jesus is the Son of God is a choice. To trust in God is a choice. To believe that God resurrected Jesus from the grave is a choice. To believe that Jesus is both Lord and Christ is a choice. God does not force men to have faith. Saving faith is the not a gift from God. Salvation is the gift from God.
WHAT MUST MEN DO TO BE SAVED?
1. Hear the gospel. Romans 10:17
2. Believe. John 3:16
3. Confess. Romans 10:9
4. Repent. Acts 3:19
5. Be baptized in water. Acts 2:38
YOU ARE INVITED TO FOLLOW MY CHRISTIAN BLOG. Google search>>>steve finnell a christian view
Steve:
ReplyDeleteI thank you for the comment. I have also looked at your blog. I take issue with one important point you constantly make. In fact, I would say this one point is your only point. You claim faith is from the individual. You claim that this is the clear teaching of scripture. You claim anyone who disagrees with you is clearly wrong, is proof-texting, is willingly misunderstanding scripture. I think you doth protest too much!
Why? Human beings are not completely free to choose God. You claim Ephesians 2:8 is proof-texted to claim faith is a gift of God. You are the one who is constantly proof-texting! Ephesians 2: 1-3 makes the statement that we are "dead" in sin. How do dead people respond? Furthermore, read Ephesians 1 and tell me it does not magnify the awesome Grace of God. He has done the work. This is not arbitrary, unless you claim that God's decisions are merely arbitrary.
Why not see that our experience of coming to faith, which is vital for true faith, happens somehow and someway according to God's eternal and amazing grace? You make a division and wall where there is no division and wall. Both our experience and God's sovereign work are not mutually exclusive.
I make it a practice to not argue with folks who refuse to listen. I know your point. I disagree with your faulty interpretation methods. I think you are wrong in your conclusions. I would be happy to dialogue with you, but I will not argue with you to merely argue.
May the Lord lead both of us to greater dependence upon Jesus as we walk in repentance and faith.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteIf Christians had good evidence for the Resurrection, they wouldn't ask you to believe by faith.
ReplyDeleteThink about that.
Historians don't ask you to believe the historicity of any other alleged event in history..."by faith". So why do we need faith to believe in the Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth if the evidence for this event is as strong as Christian apologists claim?
Christian Americans, Muslim Iranians, Hindu Indians, and atheist Japanese all believe that Alexander the Great captured the city of Tyre; that Caesar crossed the Rubicon; and that Roman general Titus destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD. No one is asked to use faith to believe the historicity of these events. So why do we need faith to believe in the Resurrection of Jesus if the evidence for it is good?
Answer: It's not good. In fact, its terrible; nothing but assumptions and second century hearsay.
Christians ask us to believe their ancient, supernatural tall tale based on very weak evidence, and, a jump into the dark (faith). And how do they get us to make this jump into the dark? Not by presenting us with more evidence, but by appeals to our emotions and/or our fears: Either by using, "Our almighty, all-knowing god will protect you and give you eternal life (security and hope)", or, "Our righteous, just, and holy god will torture you for all eternity if you DON'T make the jump (using blind faith)."
It's an ugly, manipulative, sadistic superstition, folks. Unfortunately, it is the superstition used by the largest cult on the planet.
Let's double our efforts to debunk it.
Gary:
ReplyDeleteI apologize for the delay in posting you comment and responding. I was moving and I did not do anything with this blog for the past month. I look to remedy this today.
I will assume that you are willing to listen. I do hope and pray you are.
You are mixing categories. Historians do not deny the historicity of Jesus. In fact, the life and teaching of Jesus have greater historical backing than any other event in ancient history. Somehow, you appear to think that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus are some sort of myth. While some would claim this, they do so on the basis of their faith in the impossibility of miracles and in the denial of strong historical evidence.
So, your claim of poor evidence is an outright false statement.
Second, Christians do not ask that you have "faith" in believing the historicity of the gospel account. It is history, and not some second century construct. They ask that you have "faith" or "trust" that Jesus is the promised Messiah who came to earth, lived a sinless life, died a death he did not deserve, and rose again to save you.
In other words, an honest investigation of the historical evidence illustrates that Jesus is different than any other. He was the Messiah. He proved it by His resurrection. By rising from the dead, Jesus broken the curse of sin and death. This is all historical and found within the NT documents and the testimony of the early church. This information is historical, clear from the NT writings, and the witness of billions of Christians through the ages. It does not require faith to come to these conclusions. It only takes an honest reading of the bible.
Yet, such historical knowledge is not the end of the biblical message. The bible calls us to more than mere historical affirmation. It calls us to faith. Faith is placing our trust in this person of Jesus. It is confessing our shortcomings and sins against God and others. It is believing that Jesus alone can pay the penalty for our sin. It is trusting him to do so. It also results in the Holy Spirit coming into the heart and soul of the believer. This event is called being justified (before God) by faith.
In conclusion, there is an old superstition and cult that says that God does not love or care for folks like you and me. The superstition claims that God is evil, manipulative, and false. It calls us to trust ourselves. Membership in this cult is found by an act of faith. This faith declares war on God and His Kingdom. It declares "freedom" from walking with God to find bondage in following self and sin. Such faith is a well-worn path.
This ugly, manipulative, sadistic superstition leads to bondage, lack of flourishing, and eventually death. It is truly the largest cult on the planet. Jesus is the only way to get of this path. He is the only way to be transformed from the heart.
From this day on, I will redouble my efforts to debunk this awful cult. I also call you to look afresh and anew at the person and work of Jesus as found in the scriptures. Find a good church and an honest, intellectual pastor to wrestle with you. May you find release, freedom, joy, and love as you look at Jesus.
Thank you for your response.
DeleteYou said, "In other words, an honest investigation of the historical evidence illustrates that Jesus is different than any other. He was the Messiah. He proved it by His resurrection."
That is what it all boils down to, isn't it? Is there GOOD evidence for the Resurrection. I would be very interested if you could give me, in one or two paragraphs, the convincing historical evidence for the Resurrection. I don't think you can.
I believe that Jesus most probably existed. But you are wrong when you say, "In fact, the life and teaching of Jesus have greater historical backing than any other event in ancient history" and I can prove it: Show me one college history book from any secular American university that teaches that the alleged acts of Jesus as detailed in the Bible are historical facts. In fact, show me one college history book from any secular American college that states that Jesus was a real historical figure, and not just an alleged historical figure.
Gary:
ReplyDeleteThanks for the continued dialogue. I wonder what type of evidence you would find convincing? I wonder if anything from history would help? Anyway, here goes in a couple of paragraphs.
Historically, the accounts themselves speak strongly for their veracity. How? Including women as the first witnesses to the resurrection. In that culture, their testimony would not count. They would need a man to vouch for them. Myths and other religions never include such a sign of weakness. Why? It makes God look bad. They would have had Pilate come down and see it!
Along the same lines, the apostles are so unbelieving and doubting. Since they are some of the heroes, why include signs of such weakness? No other ancient "myth" does such nonsense. They show strength and power to the heroes. Why include both of these traits? Because it is what happened.
You can call this the internal evidence for the resurrection. It speaks highly of an historical account and not like a myth at all. The biblical accounts are full of strong internal evidence for their veracity.
Second is the external evidence. These doubting apostles then travel around the world and almost all die for their faith and witness. Why would they do that? Furthermore, the entire Jewish nation is changed by these new witnesses to Christ's resurrection. Don't you think that if the Jewish leaders could have found Jesus' body they would have paraded it through Jerusalem? Of course they would have! Instead, you have a quick spread of the Church, composed of those who believed Jesus raised from the dead, around the world.
There is absolutely no stronger external evidence for an accounts veracity than this. None.
In terms of your show me "one college history book from a secular American college" comment, how would one do this? Do you really think your experience is so vast that you could catalog every college and university? This is an ad hominim argument. Basically you are saying, "All real scholars agree. Since you disagree and so do Christians, they are not real scholars." Well, I am a real scholar. My degrees are from real place and involve real research. I disagree with your statement. I can show you many other real scholars that agree with me. I can also show you others who do not. The great irony is the foolishness of believing that all real scholars agree about anything! I encourage you to attend a basic faculty meeting at any college and university and you will quickly be dispelled of this falsehood.
All in all, the person of Jesus is historically verified. The resurrection of Jesus is historically verified. The question for all of us, and I mean all of us, is "what will you do about this Jesus?" This is where faith comes in. Those who believe it and acknowledge Jesus make a choice and do so. Those who reject it as important and disavow Jesus make a choice and do so. Both are a position of faith. One in Jesus. The other in self, or science, or whatever.
We all place our faith in something.
By the way, I encourage you to read a real scholar named John Wenham's book The Easter Enigma for how someone would look in a scholarly manner at the internal evidence for the resurrection.
You don't need a PhD to know the Bible is false.
DeleteInstead of reading scholarly responses to (Bart) Ehrman as recommended, he (Gary) renounced faith. ...The pastors at Gary's former church were concerned as he sparred with capable disciples of Ehrman that he had not yet come to an understanding of Lutheranism. His formation as a Lutheran required time and inculturation. So, yes, in this sense I failed to form him as a disciple of Jesus and for that I am sorry. ---my former orthodox Lutheran pastor
My former pastor is not alone in his assessment that my lack of knowledge is the source of my problem. Many a Lutheran pastor and layperson has accused me of not fully understanding Lutheran doctrine and teachings as the cause of my loss of faith and deconversion from Christianity. What's fascinating is that many an evangelical pastor and layperson has accused me of not understanding "true Christian" (evangelical) doctrine and teaching as the cause of my deconversion. Both groups have given me long lists of apologists (from their respective denominational flavor of Christianity only, of course) to educate me in the truths of Holy Scripture (as they read and understand it).
But here's the thing: I don't need to understand the nuances of the Doctrines of Baptismal Regeneration, the Real Presence, Predestination, or Justification by Faith Alone, to know that the Bible is a book of nonsense. All I need is a high school education and a functioning brain.
Here are the cornerstone beliefs of orthodox Christianity:
1. The first human was created by an ancient middle-eastern god blowing air into a pile of dirt.
2. Death, disease, and all the pain and suffering in the world are the result of the first humans eating an ancient middle-eastern god's fruit.
3. This same ancient middle eastern god soon had pity on humans for inflicting horrific suffering and death upon them for eating his fruit, so he decided to send himself to earth, in the form of a human being, to sacrifice himself, to appease the righteous anger of...himself.
4. This ancient middle-eastern god sent himself to earth in the form of a human being by having his ghost impregnate a young Jewish virgin, giving birth to...himself....as a divine god/man.
5. This divine god/man grew up to then preach the news of eternal redemption and forgiveness for ancestral forbidden-fruit-eating; "good news" meant for all the people of earth...by going to one desolate, sparsely populated, backwater corner of the globe where he taught in riddles that not even his closest followers could understand.
6. Even upon his death his closest followers had no clue what he was talking about. This god/man left no written instructions regarding what he required of mankind, only his confusing, often contradictory oral riddles. However, he allegedly left the job of written instructions to four anonymous writers, three of whom plagiarized the first, and, one bipolar, vision-prone, Jewish rabbi, who concocted contradictory wild tales of resurrections and ascensions into outer space.
Dear friend: You do NOT need to read the books of Christian apologists, theologians, and pastors to determine if these assertions of ancient, middle-eastern facts are true. No. All you have to do is use your brain: These kinds of things do not happen in real life. They only happen in fairy tales and ancient myths. It is all superstitious nonsense.
NO ONE in the 21st century with a high school education should believe these ancient tall tales.
Gary:
ReplyDeleteAren't you a fun one! I am sorry to say that old Bart Ehrman will be held accountable for his awful books and thought. It looks like he sure poisoned you to even considering the claims of Christianity. I hear this echoes in your "thoughts" about the claims of Christianity.
Here is my problem with your arguments. They are lame. Each is open to great debate. Yet, instead of discussion, you use an ad hominem attack and not reasoning. "No one with a HS education should believe these ancient tall tales." So, since I do and so do many others, we are ignorant fools. Why? Because we disagree with Gary. Therefore, we don't use our brains.
I have been kind. I will remain so. I think you are absolutely and categorically wrong about many things. Why? Because you are blinded to even consider a different position. You have your mind made up. So be it. You must live with your decision and I respect the right to live with that decision.
Unfortunately, you are so mean-spirited in the last post that it appears you cannot live with others having a different opinion. That makes you a troll of this site and others like it. It makes you part of the problem in our culture instead of part of the solution. I can easily see you joining a political party that forcefully attacks people of faith.
Why be so angry? Grow up. People disagree with you. This is real life. Good luck with your thoughts. You make the choice to believe what you wish, and you have the joy and responsibility to live with your choices.
It is a great pity that some people's minds are like concrete: all mixed up and permanently set.
ReplyDelete