When the Truth Sets You Free

Our Christian culture seems to have an aversion to anything works-related. It seems that anytime you bring up the idea that one has to actually do something (”bear fruit” in Jesusese) to show that one is a Christian, the response is less than generous. Shouts of “Legalism!” and “Works-based salvation!” abound and the true calling of the Christian becomes garbled and lost amidst the clarifications and reiterations of “We are saved by faith alone!”

I’m not denying the validity of the whole sola fide thing, but is this really, completely, what Jesus Himself taught? Is this even really what Scripture teaches?

I do agree that we are saved by grace through faith and not by our own actions. This is true. But, from Scripture, it is also true that “people are justified by what they do and not by faith alone” (James). So what do we do? How are we saved by faith alone and not by faith alone? How does this work? I think Jesus helps make this clear.

New day, new book

I have recently been reading the Harry Potter series as my fiction fix here recently. Today I finished the third book, and was considering reading something different. I kinda want a brief break from the wizarding world. I am enjoying the books. They are wonderful. But I just am in the mood for something different.

While Auni and I were at Barnes & Noble today, I was buying her a new Palahniuk book. I’ve been considering reading something by him. Maybe Invisible Monsters? Anyway, as we were walking out, purchasing Survivor, I noticed an interesting little treasure laying on one of the bargain tables. A book called The Raw Shark Texts by Stephen Hall. I know nothing about this book other than what is on Amazon and what the cover itself of the copy I got says. But it is artsy, intriguing, different. I am reading that for my fiction fix and my brief break from Hogwarts.

I have a couple of job prospects. One is at an Evangelical Presbyterian church and a couple of Methodist churches. I am just praying for God’s hands to work in that stuff. I am more than ready to work in a church context. I love being free to minister to people how I want, but I miss the structured life of working in a church. In a way, it was really nice.

In case you hadn’t noticed, I finished that whole inerrancy thing. In a few days, I will be back to my old self. I hope those posts helped somebody…especially the friend who was struggling with the matter himself.

I think I’m gonna go rest and wait for dinner…which is exciting because my Auni made up a new recipe…Alfredo Lasagna…And when I say “made up”…I mean made up…like…she is making everything from the alfredo (involving tofu and spinach and stuff) and everything…I’m pretty excited…I’ll let you know how it is…

***UPDATE***

It was total vegan goodness!!!

To serve and protect….

Tonight, we were taking my mother-in-law home from her place of work. She had to go there to feed a tenant’s cats and my wife and I took her there. Anyway, we were taking her home and, as we were driving, we came across a large group of high school and early college age people hanging out outside a local coffeehouse. A small group was headed down the street and another group was hanging out at the door of the business.

In front of us was a slow-moving vehicle. As we came closer, we noticed that it was a police officer. He slowed down even more when he saw the students and very obviously watched all of them. When we got past the concert venue, he sped up slightly.

At this time, to our right (we were in the left lane) a slow-moving, swerving car was driving. He came into our lane and almost hit us. I slowed down thinking it was someone trying to get over…he never came over and continued to ride the brakes and swerve.

The officer ignored the obvious drunkard, turned where we turned, and turned back the other way around the block, very obviously going back to where the students were hanging out.

My point: Why are high school students hanging out at a coffeehouse more worthy of police attention than a drunk driver almost getting into an accident? To serve and protect? Riiiight….

The Bible: More Than Just A Book

No matter what one’s religious persuasion, one has to admit that the Bible is more than just another ancient book. This is another reason why those who deny God’s hand in any part of the Christian Bible are posed with a tough dilemma. Almost every major religion has a high regard for the Bible, even if they do not view it as their own sacred text.

According to the Qur’an the Torah was revealed to Moses by God (Sura 7:144-145) and confirmed by Jesus (Sura 61:6). In case you don’t have ready access to a copy of the Qur’an, here are the quotes:

Denying Inerrancy

The final general position on inerrancy is that which denies it completely in every form. This is usually a reactionary position to the all-or-nothing mentality of some fundamentalists (the bad kind). These people view the Bible as a purely human product. It is no more inspired than the latest Dean Koontz novel or the most recent book that Oprah has endorsed. It is simply a man-made collection of ancient documents used by religious people to inspire and control them.

The problem is, it ceases to be a truly divine work. Since it is no more inspired than any other collection of ancient documents, it has no more authority than they do.

Recommendation: Vintage Jesus

I finished reading Vintage Jesus by Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears yesterday. I have to say, it was a pretty good book. It is completely about Jesus, which is a great plus. And it also promotes a decidedly Reformed understanding of Him, although he makes some statements that a dogmatic Calvinist may find hard to swallow, such as saying that Jesus’ life and death was more inclusive than we tend to want to think it is.

Many people condemn Driscoll as being vulgar, but the most vulgar thing in this book, as far as I’m concerned, is when he says that Jesus died to free us from all sins and mentions being a “religious prig” as one of those that Jesus paid for on the cross. His discussion of the Virgin birth was probably the best chapter in the book and the brief explanation by Breshears regarding the Genesis text about the seed of women stomping on the serpent’s head was one of the best explanations of that text I have ever read.

I feel, though, that the book fell flat in the last chapter. Whereas in every other chapter he made a lot of blunt points and awesome truth statements, in this chapter, those stopped about halfway through. And the book ended kinda like a lot of other systematic theologies end…with little climax.

All in all, it was a wonderful book, especially if you love Jesus and take Him seriously. I do highly recommend it.

Implications of Biblical Inerrancy (Part 2)

The second general position on inerrancy within Protestantism is the middle position, the one that states that while the Bible may not be inerrant in a technical sense, it is infallible in its message. This is probably the most prominent position regarding the Bible within the world of Protestantism. Many may not claim this publicly, but in practice one can see that this is the case.