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Friday, December 30, 2011

part 2 Emergent Apostasy

The Emergent Church Creed

Having studied the Emergent Church for the past six years I've come to the conclusion that their creed, which until now has been unwritten, is this:
I believe, but not with absolute certainty,
in a majestic mysterious divine being who cannot be comprehended,
the initiator of Darwinian Evolution.

And in Jesus, whom we agree to follow with a humble hermeneutic,
who was conceived by the Mother Spirit (aka Sarayu from The Shack)
born of Mary who probably wasn’t a virgin (it really wouldn't matter if she was or wasn’t)
who was crucified under Pontius Pilate
in order to expose the evils of the Roman Empire and motivate us to defect
from all Imperial framing stories.
On the third day He/She rose in the hearts of His/Her followers (getting hung up in Modernist arguments for or against Jesus' bodily resurrection entirely misses the point and the beauty of the resurrection narratives)
He/She ascended into heaven and
He/She is dreaming and hoping that we’ll follow His/Her examples
of feeding the poor, embracing the “other” and non-violent passive resistance
and thereby dismantle the theo-capitalist suicide machine and
create an economically sustainable and socially just Kingdom of God on Earth (aka Global Marxist Socialism)
so that He/She can return, glorify us and give us all a big group hug.
I believe the mysterious divine being embraces all of us in community
through questions and conversations. (Answers are not needed and only impede the journey.)
Homosexuality is a gift to be embraced instead of a sin to be repented of,
and that there are also followers of god in the way of Allah, Buddha, and Vishnu.
I believe that Love Wins and
that the divine being will ultimately help us all embrace the divine spark (Imago dei) within all of us so that we can become one with the great mysterious majestic spirit
and experience self-actualization, the next evolutionary leap and the life of the ages.
Peace out.
Namiste

sharing with my friends the Emergent Apostasy


The Emergent’s Creed

I contemplate on the big Guy in the Sky,
Visionary of heaven and earth,
and in the Mystic Jesus Christ, a Son, the Lord:  Who might have been conceived of the Great Spirit,
born in a Labyrinth
buffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified and reinvented in the Eucharist.
He descended into the silence.
The third day He emerged from the fourth dimension.
They say He ascended into heaven
Where I visualize Him sitting at the right hand of God,
whence He might come to have a conversation with Post-modern doubters.
I meditate on the icons of the holy catholic church,
the missiological position,
candles and incense
and the possibility of creating life ever-blasting.
Rock on Amen.

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

My Bible reading for candlelit Xmas Eve sevice

    And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
    “Glory to God in the highest,
        and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
    When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
   
(Luke 2:8-20 ESV)

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Mathetes - True Spiritual Life

The importance of knowledge to true spiritual life

When you have read and carefully listened to these things, you shall know what God bestows on such as rightly love Him, being made [as you are] a paradise of delight, presenting in yourselves a tree bearing all kinds of produce and flourishing well, being adorned with various fruits. For in this place the tree of knowledge and the tree of life have been planted; but it is not the tree of knowledge that destroys— it is disobedience that proves destruc- tive. Nor truly are those words without significance which are written, how God from the beginning planted the tree of life in the midst of paradise, revealing through knowledge the way to life, and when those who were first formed did not use this [knowledge] properly, they were, through the fraud of the Ser- pent, stripped naked. For neither can life exist without knowl- edge, nor is knowledge secure without life. Wherefore both were planted close together. The Apostle, perceiving the force [of this conjunction], and blaming that knowledge which, without true doctrine, is admitted to influence life, declares, “Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies.” For he who thinks he knows anything without true knowledge, and such as is witnessed to by life, knows nothing, but is deceived by the Serpent, as not loving life. But he who combines knowledge with fear, and seeks after life, plants in hope, looking for fruit. Let your heart be your wisdom; and let your life be true knowledge inwardly received. Bearing this tree and displaying its fruit, you shall always gather in those things which are desired by God, which the Serpent cannot reach, and to which deception does not approach; nor is Eve then corrupted, but is trusted as a virgin; and salvation is manifested, and the Apostles are filled with understanding, and the Passover of the Lord ad- vances, and the choirs are gathered together, and are arranged in proper order, and the Word rejoices in teaching the saints—by whom the Father is glorified: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

Mathetes - Things Worth Beliving

These things are worthy to be known and believed

I do not speak of things strange to me, nor do I aim at anything in- consistent with right reason; but having been a disciple of the Apostles, I have become a teacher of the Gentiles. I minister the things delivered to me to those that are disciples worthy of the truth. For who that is rightly taught and begotten by the loving Word, would not seek to learn accurately the things which have been clearly shown by the Word to His disciples, to whom the Word being manifested has revealed them, speaking plainly [to them], not understood indeed by the unbelieving, but conversing with the disciples, who, being esteemed faithful by Him, acquired a knowledge of the mysteries of the Father? For which reason He sent the Word, that He might be manifested to the world; and He, being despised by the people [of the Jews], was, when preached by the Apostles, believed on by the Gentiles. This is He who was from the beginning, who appeared as if new, and was found old, and yet who is ever born afresh in the hearts of the saints. This is He who, being from everlasting, is today called the Son; through whom the Church is enriched, and grace, widely spread, increases in the saints, furnishing understanding, revealing mysteries, announcing times, rejoicing over the faithful, giving to those that seek, by whom the limits of faith are not broken through, nor the boundaries set by the fathers passed over. Then the fear of the law is chanted, and the grace of the prophets is known, and the faith of the gospels is established, and the tradition of the Apostles is preserved, and the grace of the Church exults; which grace if you grieve not, you shall know those things which the Word teaches, by whom He wills, and when He pleases. For whatever things we are moved to utter by the will of the Word commanding us, we communicate to you with pains, and from a love of the things that have been revealed to us.

Mathetes - Blessings from Faith

The blessings that will flow from faith

If you also desire [to possess] this faith, you likewise shall receive first of all the knowledge of the Father. For God has loved man- kind, on whose account He made the world, to whom He rendered subject all the things that are in it, to whom He gave reason and understanding, to whom alone He imparted the privilege of looking upwards to Himself, whom He formed after His own image, to whom He sent His only-begotten Son, to whom He has promised a kingdom in heaven, and will give it to those who have loved Him. And when you have attained this knowledge, with what joy do you think you will be filled? Or, how will you love Him who has first so loved you? And if you love Him, you will be an imitator of His kindness. And do not wonder that a man may become an imitator of God. He can, if he is willing. For it is not by ruling over his neighbors, or by seeking to hold the supremacy over those that are weaker, or by being rich, and showing violence towards those that are inferior, that happiness is found; nor can any one by these things become an imitator of God. But these things do not at all constitute His majesty. On the contrary he who takes upon himself the burden of his neighbor; he who, in whatsoever respect he may be superior, is ready to benefit another who is defi- cient; he who, whatsoever things he has received from God, by dis- tributing these to the needy, becomes a god to those who receive [his benefits]: he is an imitator of God. Then you shall see, while still on earth, that God in the heavens rules over [the universe]; then you shall begin to speak the mysteries of God; then shall you both love and admire those that suffer punishment because they will not deny God; then shall you condemn the deceit and error of the world when you shall know what it is to live truly in heaven, when you shall despise that which is here esteemed to be death, when you shall fear what is truly death, which is reserved for those who shall be condemned to the eternal fire, which shall afflict those even to the end that are committed to it. Then shall you admire those who for righteousness' sake endure the fire that is but for a moment, and shall count them happy when you shall know [the nature of] that fire.

Mathetes - On God's timing

Why the Son was sent so late

As long then as the former time endured, He permitted us to be borne along by unruly impulses, being drawn away by the desire of pleasure and various lusts. This was not that He at all delighted in our sins, but that He simply endured them; nor that He approved the time of working iniquity which then was, but that He sought to form a mind conscious of righteousness, so that being convinced in that time of our unworthiness of attaining life through our own works, it should now, through the kindness of God, be vouchsafed to us; and having made it manifest that in our- selves we were unable to enter into the kingdom of God, we might through the power of God be made able. But when our wickedness had reached its height, and it had been clearly shown that its reward, punishment and death, was impending over us; and when the time had come which God had before appointed for manifesting His own kindness and power, how the one love of God, through exceeding regard for men, did not regard us with ha- tred, nor thrust us away, nor remember our iniquity against us, but showed great long-suffering, and bore with us, He Himself took on Him the burden of our iniquities, He gave His own Son as a ransom for us, the holy One for transgressors, the blameless One for the wicked, the righteous One for the unrighteous, the incorruptible One for the corruptible, the immortal One for those who are mortal. For what other thing was capable of cov- ering our sins than His righteousness? By what other one was it possible that we, the wicked and ungodly, could be justified, than by the only Son of God? O sweet exchange! O unsearchable op- eration! O benefits surpassing all expectation! That the wicked- ness of many should be hid in a single righteous One, and that the righteousness of One should justify many transgressors! Having therefore convinced us in the former time that our nature was unable to attain to life, and having now revealed the Savior who is able to save even those things which it was [formerly] im- possible to save, by both these facts He desired to lead us to trust in His kindness, to esteem Him our Nourisher, Father, Teacher, Counsellor, Healer, our Wisdom, Light, Honor, Glory, Power, and Life, so that we should not be anxious concerning clothing and food.

Mathetes - State of fallen Mankind

The miserable state of men before the coming of the Word

For, who of men at all understood before His coming what God is?
Do you accept of the vain and silly doctrines of those who are deemed trustworthy philosophers? Of whom some said that fire was God, calling that God to which they themselves were by and by to come; and some water; and others some other of the elements formed by God. But if any one of these theories be worthy of ap- probation, every one of the rest of created things might also be de- clared to be God. But such declarations are simply the startling and erroneous utterances of deceivers; and no man has either seen Him, or made Him known, but He has revealed Himself. And He has manifested Himself through faith, to which alone it is given to behold God. For God, the Lord and Fashioner of all things, who made all things, and assigned them their several positions, proved Himself not merely a friend of mankind, but also long-suffering [in His dealings with them]. Yea, He was always of such a character, and still is, and will ever be, kind and good, and free from wrath, and true, and the only one who is [absolutely] good; (Matt. 19:17) and He formed in His mind a great and unspeakable conception, which He communicated to His Son alone. As long, then, as He held and preserved His own wise counsel in concealment, He ap- peared to neglect us, and to have no care over us. But after He re- vealed and laid open, through His beloved Son, the things which had been prepared from the beginning, He conferred every blessing all at once upon us, so that we should both share in His benefits, and see and be active [in His service]. Who of us would ever have expected these things? He was aware, then, of all things in His own mind, along with His Son, according to the relation subsisting be- tween them.

Mathetes - God incarnate

The manifestation of Christ

For, as I said, this was no mere earthly invention which was delivered to them, nor is it a mere human system of opinion, which they judge it right to preserve so carefully, nor has a dispensation of mere human mysteries been committed to them, but truly God Himself, who is almighty, the Creator of all things, and invisible, has sent from heaven, and placed among men, [Him who is] the truth, and the holy and incom- prehensible Word, and has firmly established Him in their hearts. He did not, as one might have imagined, send to men any servant, or angel, or ruler, or any one of those who bear sway over earthly things, or one of those to whom the government of things in the heavens has been entrusted, but the very Creator and Fashioner of all things— by whom He made the heavens— by whom he en- closed the sea within its proper bounds— whose ordinances all the stars faithfully observe— from whom the sun has received the measure of his daily course to be observed — whom the moon obeys, being commanded to shine in the night, and whom the stars also obey, following the moon in her course; by whom all things have been arranged, and placed within their proper limits, and to whom all are subject— the heavens and the things that are therein, the earth and the things that are therein, the sea and the things that are therein— fire, air, and the abyss— the things which are in the heights, the things which are in the depths, and the things which lie between. This [messenger] He sent to them. Was it then, as one might conceive, for the purpose of exercising tyranny, or of inspir- ing fear and terror? By no means, but under the influence of clem- ency and meekness. As a king sends his son, who is also a king, so sent He Him; as God He sent Him; as to men He sent Him; as a Savior He sent Him, and as seeking to persuade, not to compel us; for violence has no place in the character of God. As calling us He sent Him, not as vengefully pursuing us; as loving us He sent Him, not as judging us. For He will yet send Him to judge us, and who shall endure His appearing? ... Do you not see them ex- posed to wild beasts, that they may be persuaded to deny the Lord, and yet not overcome? Do you not see that the more of them are punished, the greater becomes the number of the rest? This does not seem to be the work of man: this is the power of God; these are the evidences of His manifestation.

Mathetes - On Christians in the World

The relation of Christians to the world

To sum up all in one word— what the soul is in the body, Chris- tians are in the world. The soul is dispersed through all the mem- bers of the body, and Christians are scattered through all the cities of the world. The soul dwells in the body, yet is not of the body; and Christians dwell in the world, yet are not of the world. The in- visible soul is guarded by the visible body, and Christians are known indeed to be in the world, but their godliness remains in- visible. The flesh hates the soul, and wars against it, (1 Pet. 2:11) though itself suffering no injury, because it is prevented from en- joying pleasures; the world also hates the Christians, though in nowise injured, because they abjure pleasures. The soul loves the flesh that hates it, and [loves also] the members; Christians like- wise love those that hate them. The soul is imprisoned in the body, yet preserves that very body; and Christians are confined in the world as in a prison, and yet they are the preservers of the world. The immortal soul dwells in a mortal tabernacle; and Chris- tians dwell as sojourners in corruptible [bodies], looking for an incorruptible dwelling in the heavens. The soul, when but ill- provided with food and drink, becomes better; in like manner, the Christians, though subjected day by day to punishment, increase the more in number. God has assigned them this illustrious posi- tion, which it were unlawful for them to forsake.

Mathetes - On Christians

The manners of the Christians

For the Christians are distinguished from other men neither by country, nor language, nor the customs which they observe. For they neither inhabit cities of their own, nor employ a peculiar form of speech, nor lead a life which is marked out by any singularity. The course of conduct which they follow has not been devised by any speculation or deliberation of inquisitive men; nor do they, like some, proclaim themselves the advocates of any merely human doctrines. But, inhabiting Greek as well as barbarian cit- ies, according as the lot of each of them has determined, and fol- lowing the customs of the natives in respect to clothing, food, and the rest of their ordinary conduct, they display to us their wonder- ful and confessedly striking method of life. They dwell in their own countries, but simply as sojourners. As citizens, they share in all things with others, and yet endure all things as if foreigners. Every foreign land is to them as their native country, and every land of their birth as a land of strangers. They marry, as do all [oth- ers]; they beget children; but they do not destroy their offspring. They have a common table, but not a common bed. They are in the flesh, but they do not live after the flesh. (2 Cor. 10:3) They pass their days on earth, but they are citizens of heaven. (Phil. 3:20) They obey the prescribed laws, and at the same time surpass the laws by their lives. They love all men, and are persecuted by all. They are unknown and condemned; they are put to death, and re- stored to life. (2 Cor. 6:9) They are poor, yet make many rich;
(2 Cor. 6:10) they are in lack of all things, and yet abound in all; they are dishonored, and yet in their very dishonor are glorified. They are evil spoken of, and yet are justified; they are reviled, and bless; (2 Cor. 4:12) they are insulted, and repay the insult with honor; they do good, yet are punished as evil-doers. When pun- ished, they rejoice as if quickened into life; they are assailed by the Jews as foreigners, and are persecuted by the Greeks; yet those who hate them are unable to assign any reason for their hatred.

Mathetes - Jewish works

The other observances of the Jews

But as to their scrupulosity concerning meats, and their superstition as respects the Sabbaths, and their boasting about circumcision, and their fancies about fasting and the new moons, which are ut- terly ridiculous and unworthy of notice—I do not think that you require to learn anything from me. For, to accept some of those things which have been formed by God for the use of men as prop- erly formed, and to reject others as useless and redundant—how can this be lawful? And to speak falsely of God, as if He forbade us to do what is good on the Sabbath-days—how is not this impi- ous? And to glory in the circumcision of the flesh as a proof of election, and as if, on account of it, they were specially beloved by God—how is it not a subject of ridicule? And as to their observing months and days, (Gal. 4:10) as if waiting upon the stars and the moon, and their distributing, according to their own tendencies, the appointments of God, and the vicissitudes of the seasons, some for festivities, and others for mourning—who would deem this a part of divine worship, and not much rather a manifestation of folly? I suppose, then, you are sufficiently convinced that the Chris- tians properly abstain from the vanity and error common [to both Jews and Gentiles], and from the busybody spirit and vain boasting of the Jews; but you must not hope to learn the mystery of their peculiar mode of worshipping God from any mortal.

Mathetes - on the Jews

Superstitions of the Jews

And next, I imagine that you are most desirous of hearing some- thing on this point, that the Christians do not observe the same forms of divine worship as do the Jews. The Jews, then, if they ab- stain from the kind of service above described, and deem it proper to worship one God as being Lord of all, [are right]; but if they of- fer Him worship in the way which we have described, they greatly err. For while the Gentiles, by offering such things to those that are destitute of sense and hearing, furnish an example of madness; they, on the other hand by thinking to offer these things to God as if He needed them, might justly reckon it rather an act of folly than of divine worship. For He that made heaven and earth, and all that is therein, and gives to us all the things of which we stand in need, certainly requires none of those things which He Himself bestows on such as think of furnishing them to Him. But those who imagine that, by means of blood, and the smoke of sacrifices and burnt- offerings, they offer sacrifices [acceptable] to Him, and that by such honors they show Him respect, — these, by supposing that they can give anything to Him who stands in need of nothing, ap- pear to me in no respect to differ from those who studiously confer the same honor on things destitute of sense, and which therefore are unable to enjoy such honors.

Mathetes - Vane Idols

The vanity of idols

Come, then, after you have freed yourself from all prejudices pos- sessing your mind, and laid aside what you have been accus- tomed to, as something apt to deceive you, and being made, as if from the beginning, a new man, inasmuch as, according to your own confession, you are to be the hearer of a new [system of] doc- trine; come and contemplate, not with your eyes only, but with your understanding, the substance and the form of those whom you declare and deem to be gods.
Is not one of them a stone similar to that on which we tread? Is not a second brass, in no way superior to those vessels which are constructed for our ordinary use? Is not a third wood, and that al- ready rotten? Is not a fourth silver, which needs a man to watch it, lest it be stolen? Is not a fifth iron, consumed by rust? Is not a sixth earthenware, in no degree more valuable than that which is formed for the humblest purposes?
Are not all these of corruptible matter? Are they not fabricated by means of iron and fire? Did not the sculptor fashion one of them, the brazier a second, the silversmith a third, and the potter a fourth? Was not every one of them, before they were formed by the arts of these [workmen] into the shape of these [gods], each in its own way subject to change? Would not those things which are now vessels, formed of the same materials, become like to such, if they met with the same artificers? Might not these, which are now wor- shipped by you, again be made by men vessels similar to others? Are they not all deaf? Are they not blind? Are they not without life? Are they not destitute of feeling? Are they not incapable of motion? Are they not all liable to rot? Are they not all corruptible?
These things you call gods; these you serve; these you worship; and you become altogether like them. For this reason you hate the Christians, because they do not deem these to be gods. But do not you yourselves, who now think and suppose [such to be gods], much more cast contempt upon them than they [the Christians do]? Do you not much more mock and insult them, when you worship those that are made of stone and earthenware, without appointing any persons to guard them; but those made of silver and gold you shut up by night, and appoint watchers to look after them by day, lest they be stolen? And by those gifts which you mean to present to them, do you not, if they are possessed of sense, rather punish [than honor] them? But if, on the other hand, they are destitute of sense, you convict them of this fact, while you worship them with blood and the smoke of sacrifices. Let any one of you suffer such indignities! Let any one of you endure to have such things done to himself! But not a single human being will, unless compelled to it, endure such treatment, since he is endowed with sense and reason. A stone, however, readily bears it, seeing it is insensible. Certainly you do not show [by your conduct] that he [your God] is possessed of sense. And as to the fact that Christians are not accustomed to serve such gods, I might easily find many other things to say; but if even what has been said does not seem to any one sufficient, I deem it idle to say anything further.

Mathetes -Occasion

Occasion of the epistle

Since I see you, most excellent Diognetus, exceedingly desirous to learn the mode of worshipping God prevalent among the Chris- tians, and inquiring very carefully and earnestly concerning them, what God they trust in, and what form of religion they observe, so as all to look down upon the world itself, and despise death, while they neither esteem those to be gods that are reckoned such by the Greeks, nor hold to the superstition of the Jews; and what is the affection which they cherish among themselves; and finally, why this new kind or practice [of piety] has only now entered into the world, and not long ago; I cordially welcome this your desire, and I implore God, who enables us both to speak and to hear, to grant to me so to speak, that, above all, I may hear you have been edified, and to you so to hear, that I who speak may have no cause of regret for having done so.

Mathetes - Intro

Introduction

Before you buy the lies of Emergent heretics who would have you believe that today’s Christianity has completely got it wrong and that we need a New Kind of Christianity, you need to spend some time looking at what the earliest Christians believed, taught and confessed. When you look at the writings of the primitive historic Christian church you will discover that Brian McLaren is nothing more than a heretical innovator and that his New Kind of Christian- ity has practically nothing in common with historic Christianity.
This epistle, written circa A.D.130. by an anonymous author who gives himself the title Mathetes "a disciple of the Apostles" provides us with one of the earliest looks into the beliefs of Chris- tianity in the generation that immediately followed the Apostles.
This epistle is an ancient and pristine specimen of the apologet- ics employed against the paganism that adhered to the false gods of the ancient Greco-Roman world as well as the Judaism that re- jected Jesus Christ as the promised messiah of the Old Testament.
The careful reader of this 2nd century epistle will clearly see that Mathetes assumes that the overarching narrative of the scriptures tells of us mankind’s fall in to sin and rebellion against God and how God decisively dealt with mankind’s rebellion and sin through Jesus Christ’s penal substitutionary death, which Mathetes calls “the great exchange”.
The Postmodern reader would also be wise to take note of the fact that Mathetes, who learned the Christian faith from the Apos- tles and their associates did not believe the doctrine of hell to be contradictory to God’s nature or the Gospel. Like all Christians who hold to the Historic Christian faith, Mathetes affirmed that God is not violent and doesn’t use coercion to call people to Him- self but that the days of God’s mercy will come to an end when Jesus Christ returns in glory to judge the world and punish with the eternal fires of hell those who persist in their sin and unbelief.
Because of this epistle’s strong emphasis on God’s mercy and forgiveness, the Christian who confesses the sound Biblical doc- trines of the ancient church will find this letter to be full of comfort and glad tidings from our merciful God who calls us from sin and rebellion to the glorious light of Jesus Christ and His forgiveness won for us on the cross. Enjoy!

Thanks to Fighting for the Faith's Chris R. for all his work on this.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

The Blood of Jesus has laid the path for holiness

For example, when the Christians in Corinth were struggling to understand the difference Christ had made in them, the apostle Paul gave a laundry list of sinful behaviors and reminded the Corinthians that the unregenerate, the unchanged and those unmoved by the gospel would not inherent the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6:9-10). But then he says, "And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God" (1 Cor. 6:11, emphasis added).
The Blood of Christ has secured our holiness in the sight of God. Because the blood of Christ has been shed for us, our position in the eyes of God is secure. We are in Christ, and we are holy as He is holy (1 Cor 1:30).
Nevertheless, there is the ongoing work of Christ in making us practically, namely, holy. In other words, there will be times in our lives when we do not feel the ongoing, progressive nature of our sanctification. We may even get the sense that rather than progressing, we are regressing due to our perpetual struggle with indwelling sin. It is during such times that the gospel reminds us that our sanctification is not because we are willing to shed Christ's blood but because Christ was willing to shed His. It is not our blood and sacrifice that has pleased the Father; it is the blood of His beloved Son. Thus, when the battle for daily holiness appears lost, encourage yourself with the words for the old saints: "I ain't what I wanna be; I ain't what I'm gonna be; but through the blood of Christ, I ain't what I once was."
Satan knows our weaknesses, and he often sees when we fail. He is quick to remind us of our lack of progress in the Gospel and how often we appear halted in our conformity to Christ. When this is the case, consider the words of Augustus Toplady: "When Satan tempts me to despair and tells me of the guilt within; upward I look and see Him there, who made an end to all my sin."
He made an end to all our sin by suffering as our sin offering outside the gate (Lev 4:21).
So, keep moving Christian. The Bible remind us that "what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is" (1 John 3:2). In other words, God is not through with us yet.

Rev Anthony Carter, Tabletalk magazine Sept 2011

Encouragement vs flattery

There are a lot of interesting conclusions to be gleaned from the laundry list of names in Romans 16. But the one I appreciate the most is Paul's example of offering divinely inspired encouragement. According to my Biblically informed definition, encouragement means highlighting the evidences of God's Grace in the Gospel or in a Gospel-centered person to the glory of God. Each part of that definition is important. Encouragement is not spotlighting a person but underlining God's Grace in a person. It is not about commending nice people to make them feel good but about commending the work of the gospel in others to the glory of God.

Christian persecution in US and UK

Sheep, Wolves, Snakes and Doves

When Jesus sends us to bear witness to Him in the World, He does not send us out as dominant and strong but as weak and seemingly defenseless in ourselves. The only reason I say "seemingly" defenseless is that it is possible that, since "all authority" belongs to Jesus (Matt 28:18), He might intervene and shut the mouths of the wolves, like he did the mouths of the lions that surrounded Daniel.

But that does not appear to be His intention. He goes on to say that the "wolves" will deliver the "sheep" to courts, flog them, drag them before governors, have parents and children put to death, hate them, persecute them from town to town, malign them, and kill them (Matt 10:17-23). So it is clear that when Jesus says He is sending us as sheep in the midst of wolves, He means that we will be treated the way wolves treat sheep. 

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Was Michelangelo a proto-Lutheran?


Forget the Illuminati — Michelangelo and the Spirituali Call Your Office

So PBS’ Secrets of the Dead this evening featured a fascinating program on Michelangelo — rooted specifically in the theory of Italian art historian Antonio Forcellino that Michelangelo was a member of an informal 16th-century Italian reform movement called the Spirituali.
While studying Michelangelo’s sculpture of Moses, part of the Tomb of Julius II, Forcellino began to notice certain “anomalies” that gave him pause. Further research, especially in the Vatican archives, led him to the relationship between Michelangelo and Cardinal Reginald Pole, Cardinal Ercole Gonzaga, and Vittoria Colonna, a noblewoman.
What these folks had in common was a desire to reform the Catholic Church from within. In fact, Pole’s views on justification, like Gaspar Contarini’s, bears a striking resemblance to Luther’s, although not identical to it.
Forcellino believes a tortured and conflicted Michaelangelo began to ask that question that seemed to be in the 16th-century air: “What must I do to be saved?”  (Its too bad so few Christians and non-christians ask this question today but I guess Americans are too busy having ‘their best life now!’) ”Grace cannot be purchased,” Michelangelo wrote to Colonna in light of the indulgences controversy, and, influenced by the Spirituali and their Christocentric discussions of reform and renewal, the work of il Maestro began to focus increasingly on Christ and a direct relationship with God, rather than on the institutional church, its clergy, and its sacraments.
By 1547, Pole, then a papal governor in northern Italy, was at the center of a network of reformed-minded clergy, laity, and artists. They were educated, wealthy, and sympathetic to many of the same concerns as the Protestants, although they themselves were not Protestants.
Pole was seen as a man who could bridge the divide between Rome and the Reformers. Michelangelo, a member of this network, began to produce images “that mirror these ideas,” says one scholar in the Secrets documentary.
But the Spirituali began making the authorities nervous, and Cardinal Caraffa, a nobleman from Naples, became Pope Paul III’s top heresy hunter, Inquisitor General for Rome. He despised anything that smacked of Lutheranism, and to him the Spirituali were secret Lutherans.
And that included, believe it or not, Michelangelo. Caraffa denounced the master painter’s Second Coming of Christ, not only because of the rampant nudity, but also because it focused too much on man and his relation to Christ, not the church.
With Gonzaga and Pole relatively protected because of their high status, Caraffa went after Vittoria Colonna’s favorite preacher, Bernardino Ochino, and other lesser known reform-minded Italians. Ochino fled north to Switzerland. “They want to reform the church starting with my death. Now I can take off the mask and speak the truth,” he later wrote to Colonna, who, strangely, betrayed him and turned the letter over to Caraffa, which enflamed his mission to stamp out heresy, pushing the Spiritualli underground.
According to the program, “The Benefit of Christ’s Deathwould be the lasting work of the Spirituali, the supreme expression of their belief that reform of the Church meant a focus on Christ and the Cross. While good works are important, justification by faith is the key to salvation. The Church, its clergy, and its sacraments, again, are nowhere to be found.
The book was published anonymously, but it fell into Caraffa’s hands and was immediately banned. Once again, Michelangelo’s name comes up in connection with the nascent reformation movement and its chief work. Letters written by members of the Spirituali and confiscated by “Caraffa’s spies” — and available today in the Vatican archives – include one by Colonna in which she mentions that Michelangelo “was in attendance” when publication of the infamous “Benefit of Christ’s Death” was mentioned.
However, the only references I could find to “The Benefit of Christ’s Death” are to the publication by Fontanini and Flaminio, members of Juan de Valdes’ circle, which would indeed overlap with the Spirituali. (As would Peter Martyr Vermigli, a signal figure in the Reformation who would go on to write a history of the movement that would be a standard reference text literally for centuries.)
Despite having given Caraffa the power to persecute those suspected of heresy, Pope Paul III wanted none other than Reginald Pole to succeed him as pope. As the program tells it, Caraffa would have none of it. Upon Paul III’s death, Caraffa managed to convince a sufficient number of cardinals that Pole was a heretic, and the reformed-minded  Englishman came up one vote short of a victory. (A more standardized version of this story has Pole’s defeat more about politics — imperial vs. French — than about supposedly heretical beliefs.)
Upon the death of Edward VI in England, Pole returned to England, where he joined Mary Tudor in an attempt to restore the Roman Church’s property and hold on the people of England. In time, that included the persecution of Protestants, which, ironically, virtually guaranteed a Protestant England in the long run. When Mary died, Pole returned to Italy, only to be imprisoned by Caraffa — then Pope Paul IV — as a suspected Lutheran. Pole died in prison awaiting exoneration.
As for the statue of Moses that makes up part of Pope Julius II’s tomb, the one that so intrigued art historian Forcellino, the head is turned to the left. Originally, the head was to face forward, toward the altar, where the priest says Mass. Michelangelo, supposedly influenced by Spirituali reform, wanted Moses looking away from the celebrant. The great lawgiver is searching for the light — “for a direct contact with God.” The priesthood is again de-emphasized.
How did Michelangelo — whose pension had already been suspended by Paul IV — manage to save his own life? According to Forcellino, by reinterpeting aspects of his own sculptures to deflect attention from their original reformist theological symbolism to that which would be considered innocuous. And by accepting one last commission — helping to salvage St. Peter’s, and thus contribute to the glory of the institutional church.
Adding to the mystery of Michelangelo’s “secret faith” is the sculpture he intended for his own tomb, a unique Pieta in which he depicts himself as Nicodemus — the man who visits Jesus at night, in secret, unable to express his faith publicly. (Alas, Michelangelo abandoned this project, and another sculpture altogether adorns his tomb.)
The great Renaissance artist, it is said, died in bed with his Bible — which was in an illegal Italian translation.
His remains were returned to Florence, his true home. He finally was free of Rome.
Whether Forcellino’s interpretations of the hidden theological import of Michelangelo’s work and the artist’s true spiritual leanings prove true, only centuries-long scholarly debate will tell. (Wake me when they come to a conclusion.) Other scholars have wrestled with these same images and questions and come to somewhat different conclusions.
The leanings of Caraffa, however, are not up for dispute. As Pope Paul IV, he strengthened the Inquisition in Rome, brought the Index of Forbidden Books to Venice (where printing presses were humming), and created the Jewish ghetto.
What would have happened had Pole been elected pope? Would reform along Protestant lines have taken place within the Catholic Church? Pole’s activities in England argue otherwise. He was a company man to the end. Study Luther’s Smalcald Articles — and the extent of the reforms sought by Luther and his contemporaries — and one can hardly believe even the Poles and Contarinis would have gone as far, even if the Caraffas had been marginalized.
But then again, once faith is understood as the sole channel through which the benefits of Christ’s Cross are imputed to us, there’s no telling the theological ripple effect.
Now why invent nonsense about a nonexistent Illuminati (certainly nonexistent in the time of Galileo, as Dan Brown would have it) when the stuff of history is rich enough for any thriller?


I truly hope this is true - Salvation by Grace alone through faith alone - maybe I'll see Micelangelo in heaven one day.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Sanctified by the Blood

The story is told of Augustine, the fourth-century theologian and Bishop of Hippo in North Africa, who, after he confessed faith in Jesus Christ, ran into a former Mistress on the street. Immediately upon recognizing her, Augustine quickly reversed and began swiftly moving in the opposite direction.

The woman, surprised by seeing Augustine and equally surprised at his reversal of his route, cried out, "Augustine, it is I." Augustine, continuing to move away from her, replied, "Yes, but it is not I."

This anecdote reminds us that if we are in Christ, we are new Creations. The former has passed away. The new has come (2 Cor 5:17). In other words, the Christian is a changed person. The Gospel changes you. The Spirit of God changes you. The blood of Christ changes you.

Rev. Thabiti Anyabwile

'We are not the reason that the Gospel works; the Gospel is the reason the Gospel works.' -Ligon Duncan, Feed My Sheep

The news about the sinless Son of God - incarnated, crucified, buried, and resurrected in the place of sinners to deliver them from the judgement of God into the loving fellowship of God - produces the salvation we long for our Muslim neighbors and friends to experience. The Gospel alone does this. And we who bear this news may safely put our confidence in it.

Rev J R Vassar

If God is holy, sovereign, wise, good, powerful, and abounding in steadfast-love, let us resolve to no longer ascribe greater authority to our fears than we do to God.

09/11 a wake-up call

Ten years ago, I repeatedly hear the question raised, "where was God in all of this? where was God on 9/11 when the planes crashed into the twin towers in New York, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania? My answer then was the same as it is now: God was in the precise place on 9/11 that He was on the day before and the day after. He was on His throne then and continues to be on His throne now because He is the Lord God omnipotent who reigns. He reigns day in and day out in consistent manifestation of His immutable sovereignty. God is immutably, unchanging, even though people and cultures continually change.

We are like Habakkuk, who, in his consternation over the fact that God used a foreign power to chasten His own people, stationed himself in a watchtower, demanding an answer from God as to how He could allow such wickedness to prevail. Unlike Habakkuk's reaction when God answered that question in His Holy Word, our lips do not quiver, our legs doe not shake, our bellies do not tremble, nor does rottenness enter our bones (Hab. 3:16). Rather than repent in dust and ashes before a holy God, we continue to shake our fists in His face, demanding a more benevolent providence from His hand.

Any nation that seeks to supplant God's sovereignty with its own is doomed. Is is doomed to failure, destruction, and insignificance. 

Many things have changed in the last ten years, but some have not. Saddam Hussein is gone, but terrorism is still here. Osama bi Laden is dead, but there still is no peace in the Middle East. Islam has grown exponentially in the West, but it has demonstrated again and again that it is, in fact, not a religion of peace. Its symbol today is the symbol it has had from its beginning - the scimitar or sword. This symbol stands in vivid contrast to the Christian faith. Islam has a theology that glorifies conquest; Christianity has a theology of the Cross. In Islam, it is still a virtue to slay the infidel, and this virtue is sought by suicide bombers around the world. But in God's sight, it is still a virtue to love our enemies and to pray for those who deceitfully use us.

My fear is that we haven't learned very much from 9/11. On 9/11, then years ago, more babies (American Citizens) were destroyed (murdered/in terror) in the wombs of their mothers than people were killed in the terrorist attack in New York. That destruction continues to this day. The greatest attacks on the sanctity of life come not from al-Qaeda but from those who destroy their young. God will not continue to tolerate any nation that practices that culture of (monstrous) death and barbarism.

What is most tragic is that when we were given a wake-up call ten years ago (to repent and trust in Christ) on 9/11, we pushed the snooze button and went back to sleep. 


Dr R C Sproul  - invest in Tabletalk Magazine it may be more valuable to your soul that all your Holiday presents this year.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

9-11 aftermath

Since the fall, such sins have been common to all men everywhere, and the works of sinful flesh are evident: terrorists attacks at the hands of committed and conservative Muslims; the murderous crusades led by cross-draped and body-armored Biblically confused Catholics in the name of Christ; indiscriminate mass murders by fame-seeking, face-masked American high school students; discriminatory holocausts fueled by the psychotic minds of nationally appointed madmen; and government-supported, socially accepted infanticide in the once-safe wombs of inconvenienced women and their self-centered, irresponsible "men".

Although the horrific events of Sept 11th, 2001, sent shock waves throughout the world, our sovereign God was neither shocked nor surprised, and though the world has changed and will continue to change, the one and only God of the Bible has not changed but is forever changing His world by building His kingdom through the advance of the Gospel by His sovereign hand and for His own glory.

Burk Parsons of Tabletalk Magazine

Preach the gospel—use actions when necessary; use words always.


"Preach the gospel at all times; when necessary, use words."
This is a favorite lie of the Liberal/Emergent Church – using false quotes to back up their false religion.

I've heard the quote once too often. It's time to set the record straight—about the quote, and about the gospel. Francis of Assisi is said to have said, "Preach the gospel at all times; when necessary, use words."
This saying is carted out whenever someone wants to suggest that Christians talk about the gospel too much, and live the gospel too little. Fair enough—that can be a problem (but it usually isn’t). Much of the rhetorical power of the quotation comes from the assumption that Francis not only said it but lived it.
The problem is that he did not say it. Nor did he live it. And those two contra-facts tell us something about the spirit of our age.
* * *

Let's commit a little history (let me un-humbly draw on some chapters from my biography of St. Francis).
First, no biography written within the first 200 years of his death contains the saying. It's not likely that a pithy quote like this would have been missed by his earliest disciples.
Second, in his day, Francis was known as much for his preaching as for his lifestyle.
He began preaching early in his ministry, first in the Assisi church of Saint George, in which he had gone to school as a child, and later in the cathedral of Saint Rufinus. He usually preached on Sundays, spending Saturday evenings devoted to prayer and meditation reflecting on what he would say to the people the next day.
He soon took up itinerant ministry, sometimes preaching in up to five villages a day, often outdoors. In the country, Francis often spoke from a bale of straw or a granary doorway. In town, he would climb on a box or up steps in a public building. He preached to serfs and their families as well as to the landholders, to merchants, women, clerks, and priests—any who gathered to hear the strange but fiery little preacher from Assisi.
He apparently was a bit of a showman. He imitated the troubadours, employing poetry and word pictures to drive the message home. When he described the Nativity, listeners felt as if Mary was giving birth before their eyes; in rehearsing the crucifixion, the crowd (as did Francis) would shed tears.
Contrary to his current meek and mild image, Francis's preaching was known for both his kindness and severity. One moment, he was friendly and cheerful—prancing about as if he were playing a fiddle on a stick, or breaking out in song in praise to God and his creation. Another moment, he would turn fierce: "He denounced evil whenever he found it," wrote one early biographer, "and made no effort to palliate it; from him a life of sin met with outspoken rebuke, not support. He spoke with equal candor to great and small."
Another early biography talked about how his preaching was received: "His words were neither hollow nor ridiculous, but filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, penetrating the marrow of the heart, so that listeners were turned to great amazement."
As a result, he quickly gained followers, and it wasn't long before he told his most devoted adherents to preach as well. In the fall of 1208, he sent the brothers out two by two to distant reaches. What did he tell them to say? In an early guide written during this period, Francis instructed his brothers to tell their listeners to "do penance, performing worthy fruits of penance, because we shall soon die … . Blessed are those who die in penance for they shall be in the kingdom of heaven. Woe to those who do not die in penance, for they shall be children of the devil whose works they do and they shall go into everlasting fire."
This last quote raises questions about the content of Francis' preaching. He was clearly a product of his age and his church. It's hard to tell sometimes if "penance" for Francis meant something more akin to biblical repentance, or to the medieval version of "works righteousness" that the Reformers eventually and rightly condemned.
The point is this: Francis was a preacher. And the type of preacher who would alarm us today. "Hell, fire, brimstone" would not be an inaccurate description of his style.
* * *

Why is it, then, that we "remember" Francis as a wimp of a man who petted bunnies and never said a cross word, let alone much about the Cross?
I suspect we sentimentalize Francis—like we do many saints of ages past—because we live in a sentimental age. We want it to be true that we can be nice and sweet and all will be well. We hope against hope that we won't have take the trouble to figure out how exactly to talk about the gospel—our unbelieving friends will "catch" the gospel once our lifestyle is infected with it.
"Preach the gospel; use words if necessary" goes hand in hand with a postmodern assumption that words are finally empty of meaning. It subtly denigrates the high value that the prophets and Jesus and Paul put on preaching. Of course we want our actions to match our words as much as possible. But the gospel is a message, news about an event and a person upon which the history of the planet turns. As blogger Justin Taylor recently put it, the Good News can no more be communicated by deeds than can the nightly news.
Many have noted how Francis modeled his life on Jesus. But it wasn't just about the life of poverty, but also the life of preaching. We have no instance of Jesus performing a miracle and not speaking a word of comfort or challenge afterwards.
Paul articulated succinctly what Francis and Jesus felt in their souls: "How are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?" (Rom. 10:14).
To be sure, words used cheaply, thoughtlessly are worse than no words at all. As Westmont College professor Marilyn McEntyre says in an essay in the upcoming August issue of Christianity Today, "In an environment permeated with large-scale, well-funded deceptions, the business of telling the truth, and caring for the words we need for that purpose, is more challenging than ever before."
That being said, a better saying (which you can attribute to anyone you like) is this: Preach the gospel—use actions when necessary; use words always.
Mark Galli is senior managing editor of Christianity Today. He is author of A Great and Terrible Love: A Spiritual Journey into the Attributes of God (Baker).

Mark Galli | posted 5/21/2009 11:41AM
Christianity Today

Colossians 1:19-23 my class notes



Colossians Class chapter 1 verses 19-23

Last time I taught, we spoke about the relationship between the books of Philemon and Colossians; today we’ll focus on the parallels from Ephesians and Colossians.

But before we begin is anyone having any problems with the rotating leaders, I know we all have different teaching styles, I just want to be sure everyone’s doing okay? Any concerns?

First read Col 1:19-23

Vs 19
It would appear from the following chapters that the false teachers at Colossae were teaching submission to spirits or angelic authorities as a way of overcoming their fear of not being found acceptable before God. Read Col. 2:8-15,18.
Questions #1 - So our question then is how are we found acceptable before God?
I like Romans 3:20-4:8 which says not by our good works done in righteousness, but by faith.

Vs 20
Christianity maintains that we are acceptable before God on account of Christ’s perfect obedience for us and his atonement for our sins, received by faith.
Question #2 – Does that mean we are we saved by works?
Yes, but we’re saved by Christ’s works not our own. Eph 1:3-14

Vs 21-22
The Colossians, like us, were once enemies of God and alienated from Him. But now we have been made 1 with Him, having been adopted and given peace with God through Christ’s passive obedience (his going to the Cross) and his active obedience (his 30+ years of moral perfection). I mention both because both were required for our salvation. If Christ was perfect but didn’t die for our sins then he would be holy and we would still be dead in our sins. If he was crucified, claiming to die for our sins, but wasn’t perfect himself then he could only die for his sins and not as the substitute for ours.
Question #3 - What was our relationship to God prior to conversion? Eph 2:1-10

Vs 23a
Genuine saving faith is enduring, its not hoping maybe we’ll be saved but being assured that all the work needed to accomplish salvation was done in Christ, it is a sure foundation. (For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Christ Jesus. – 1 Corinthians 3:11 ESV.)

Question #4 – Will genuine believers continue in the faith or fall away?
Genuine believers, who have been reconciled with God, will persevere in faith and obedience because aside from being declared righteous (the theological term is Justification/Justified) they are also new creations with a new disposition that now loves God, hates sin and desires obedience. (Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV)
1John 2:19 those that fall away are to show that they were never really with us, or John 6:39-40 if you are in Christ he keeps you with him, and again John 10:29

Vs 23b
“In all creation” – again Paul uses hyperbole here (a literary exaggeration); he is now in Rome writing this letter (the Capital of the only World Superpower in his day) and his ministry has been to many of the major Roman urban centers because of that he understood himself as having already reached the entire civilized world.

And this also parallels Christ’s call to go out and peach the Gospel to the entire World. (And Jesus said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Mark 16:15 ESV & Luke 24:45-47 Then Jesus opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations.)


Wrap up question:
Because of this, instead of regularly hearing sermons like 5 more steps for you to become more self-righteous (think Joel Osteen, the Pope, Rob Bell, Brian McLaren, Rick Warren) should you be hearing sermons that regularly stress repentance and the forgiveness of sins won in Christ for you? And then should your voice in the community be ‘oh no, America’s becoming increasingly immoral’, or should it be ‘of-course America is full of sinners (you & me included) who need to repent and trust in Christ’s work accomplished for them for the forgiveness of their sins’?

Pope Benedict has written (in his book Jesus of Nazareth) and announced publicly that the Catholic Church will no longer actively attempt to convert Jews (who reject Jesus) to Christianity – (due to Romans 11) he says any converted Gentile will be in heaven (that’s the Church’s focus) and God will convert all Jews himself later - so don’t worry about it.

Rick Warren has actually asked Allah “the All-Merciful One” for forgiveness you can find this at the end of his introduction to a letter entitled “a Christians response to A Common Word between Us (Muslims) and You (Infidels/Christians)”.

Joel Osteen in a Washington Times article Osteen: Americans’ faith at all-time high Osteen says he does think Mormons are Christians - I believe that [Mormons] are Christians, I don’t know if it’s the purest form of Christianity, like I grew up with. But you know what, I know Mormons. I hear Mitt Romney — and I’ve never met him — but I hear him say, ‘I believe Jesus is the son of God,’ ‘I believe he’s my savior,’ and that’s one of the core issues.
Just an FYI - Mormon’s also believe Satan is the son of God and spirit bother to Jesus Christ and that 6 foot Quakers live on the Moon – that’s not a joke. The following quotation of the founder of Mormonism, Joseph Smith, As recorded in the Mormon's "Journal of Oliver Huntington" Vol.2, pg166 at Utah State Historical Society. "The inhabitants of the moon are of a more uniform size than the inhabitants of the earth Being about 6 feet in height, they dress very much like the Quaker style and are quite general in style, or the fashion of dress. They live to be very old though coming generally near 1000 years."

 

Rob Bell says there is no real Hell only the Hell of your own making in this world or in your mind.

Yet no one in all the Scriptures had more to say about Hell than Jesus. No stern messenger of doom from the era of the Judges, no fiery Old Testament prophet, no writer of imprecatory psalms, and no impassioned apostle not even all of them combined—mentioned Hell more frequently or described it in more terrifying terms than Jesus Himself. Rob Bell is clearly unhappy with Jesus’ teaching about hell. He finds the very idea of Hell morally repugnant and believes it is one of the main reasons “why lots of people want nothing to do with the Christian faith.” He scoffs at the idea that divine justice requires endless punishment for unrepentant sinners. In direct opposition to what Jesus Himself taught in Matthew 25:46, Bell insinuates that it would be a gross, cosmic atrocity if the doom of the reprobate is everlasting in the same sense that heaven’s blessings for the redeemed are everlasting.

 

Brian McLaren’s Gospel from page 139 from his book a New Kind of Christianity - Jesus’ gospel says the Kingdom of God is at hand [which means] God’s new benevolent society is already among us...the phrase which shimmers and glows in relation to the dominant social reality of Jesus time: the kingdom-oriented term “Christ” means “liberating king,” the one who will free God’s people from oppression, confronts and humbles their oppressors, and then lead both of them into a better day.

This sounds nice, but says nothing about sinners receiving repentance and faith for the forgiveness of their sins won by Christ, which is the Gospel and everything we just read Biblically today.

Theology Paper - Christ focused/Scripture laden


Is Jesus the only way to heaven?

This question itself shows a complete misunderstanding of who Jesus is. So, first I will answer the question of who Jesus is, show why he is one of a kind in the vast malaise of spiritual gurus today, and then list the Scriptures to what we must do since this is the case.

So who is Jesus? Is he a just a poor Jewish teacher – a homeless rabbi?
Is he a pacifist political dissident – a bearded Gandhi?

Let us remember Exodus 3 when Moses is at the burning bush meeting God himself, Moses asks what if the people of Israel ask your name and God replies –I am who I am. Well later in John 8:23-24, Jesus said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am who I am - you will die in your sins.” It is a myth that Christ never claimed deity, he often invoked the divine name I am who I am for himself, he claimed to come down from heaven, claimed to pre-exist before the Old Testament Jewish fathers, that he and the Father are 1, and his own designated title the Son of Man from Daniel 7 is a claim to be the 1 and only given – by God the Father – an Eternal kingdom and dominion over all peoples, of all languages and in all nations.  

Or how about even earlier, Genesis 1:1 says Yahweh Elohim created the heavens and the Earth, but wait both Colossians 1 and Hebrews 1 say Jesus created the heavens and Earth. So which is it God or Jesus? Well John 1 helps us out with that. John also says that Jesus created all things and made the world but he goes further in telling us also that Jesus is both with God and is God. Let me say that again the Bible makes clear not just that the Earth was created but that our God, Savior and Christ Jesus created it. We should also meditate on John 20:26-31 which tells of an appearance of Christ to the disciples after the crucifixion –Eight days later, and his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” (That’s repentance and faith.) Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Even from the lips of doubting Thomas, Jesus is not just another good, moral religious teacher but Lord and God in flesh proved by his self-resurrection from the dead.

Jude, a former unbeliever, will go even further in 1:5-7 when he says of his own half-brother, that it was Jesus who, thousands of years earlier, led the Jews out of slavery in Egypt to go to the wilderness where they would receive God’s Law, and it was Christ who destroyed the unbelievers wandering there in the wilderness, and it is Jesus who has reserved the fallen, reprobate angels for their final judgment to come, and it was Christ who destroyed the sexually immoral from Sodom and Gomorrah who pursued both heterosexual and homosexual lusts instead a right standing before him.

But even these are not the limit to how Jesus is one of a kind. Lets look at just a few Old Testament messianic prophecies. Since the Fall in Genesis 3, Yahweh has declared that there shall come a special child who is described not born of both a father and mother but would be specifically the offspring of a woman alone, a boy, who though wounded by Satan will ultimately triumph over him. This one, known to the Jewish people as their Messiah would be a prophet like Moses, descended from Adam, descended from Seth, descended from Noah, descended from Shem, descended from Abraham, descended from Isaac, descended from Jacob, descended from Judah, descended from Jesse, descended from David, He would be born in Bethlehem, he would be from Nazareth of Galilee, born of a virgin, his birth would cause an infant massacre much like Moses’ day, he would be a priest like Melchisedek, he will come - while the Temple of Jerusalem still stands, he will come out of Egypt, he will do miracles, he will speak in parables, he will both draw Gentiles to himself while his own people (the Jews) reject him, a man of the wilderness will prepare the way for him (this is John the Baptist), according to the prophet Daniel who said it would be sometime near the 30’s AD (the time of Jesus’ ministry) and the Messiah would be revealed and cut off, but not for himself (this was an image of his substitutionary atonement), he would enter Jerusalem riding a donkey, he would be hated for no reason, rejected by rulers, rejected by his own brothers, he would be betrayed by someone close to him – a friend,  he would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver, the betrayal money would be cast on the floor of the Temple, that money would be used to by a potter’s field, he would not open his mouth to defend himself, he would be spit on, he would be numbered with the transgressors, he would be pierced in both his hands and feet, something like a crucifixion is foretold, the Passover and his sacrificial death where to coincide so that he might become our ultimate Passover Lamb, his bones were not to be broken, people would cast lots and divide his clothes, he would be given vinegar and gall to drink, he would say My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me?, his disciples would scatter, he would be buried with the rich, yet his body would not decay, he would be resurrected from the dead, he would ascend into heaven, he would sit at God’s right hand, and he would be the Son of God. He would be God and he would be Man. Its funny really, this all sounds so familiar, like someone I know, it sounds like the life of Jesus.

So now that we have seen that Jesus is God, the God of the Old Testament, that Jesus created the heavens and the earth, that Jesus lead the Jews out of their bondage in Egypt, that Jesus judges Eternally the immoral and ungodly unbelievers and that Jesus has already fulfilled so much of the Messianic prophecies, now what does this Jesus say to us sinners today. Luke 24:44-47 says not only the New Testament but all of the Old Testament is about Him and that repentance and the forgiveness of sins won for us in Christ must be proclaimed to all nations. I like the simplicity of Jesus in Mark 1:15 which says Repent and believe in the Gospel or again in Mark 5:36 do not fear, only believe.

Acts 19:4 Dr Luke quoting Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.”

Also the Jews once asked Jesus what must we do, to be doing the works of God?
And Christ said in John 6:29 this is the work of God, that you believe in him whom God has sent.

John 10:25-30 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one.”
           
Acts 16:30-34 Luke again, Then the jailer brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And Paul and Silas said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and all your household.” And they spoke the word of the Lord to him (the Gospel) and to all who were in his house. And he took them that same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God. (Believing in Jesus is Believing in God – there is no distinction.)

Even back in the Old Testament, Jonah 3:1-5 Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.” So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days' journey in breadth. Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them. (And the people of Nineveh repented).

Romans 10:8-13 Paul again, but what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim – the Gospel); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”

Titus 3:5-8 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving-kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of good works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works.

Acts 15:7-9 And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the Gospel and believe. And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the same Holy Spirit just as he did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith.

Romans 4:4-8 Paul says, now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. But to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”

Acts 10:38-43 Peter said, God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

Romans 1:16-18 Paul says, for I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it (the Gospel) the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

John 11:25-27 Jesus said to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

Isaiah 45:18-25 for thus says the LORD, who created the heavens (he is God!),
Who formed the earth and made it (he established it; he did not create it empty,
He formed it to be inhabited!): “I am the LORD, and there is no other. I did not speak in secret, in a land of darkness; I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, ‘Seek me in vain.’ I the LORD speak the truth; I declare what is right. “Assemble yourselves and come; Draw near together, you survivors of the nations! They have no knowledge who carry about their wooden idols, and keep on praying to gods that cannot save. Declare and present your case; let them take counsel together! Who told this long ago? Who declared it of old? Was it not I, the LORD? And there is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none besides me. “Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. By myself I have sworn; from my mouth has gone out in righteousness a word that shall not return: ‘to me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance.’ “Only in the LORD, it shall be said of me, are righteousness and strength; to him shall come and be ashamed all who were once incensed against him.

John 14:1-7 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, why would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” But Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him (Christ can say this “you have seen God”, since He and the Father are in fact 1 in being).
           
Acts 4:8-12 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

The obvious answer here is that this consideration about Jesus is not something optional like choosing a favorite Saint from Church history – Augustine, Luther, Calvin, Whitefield, Spurgeon. But to reject Jesus is not to reject a religious authority but the Authority, it is nothing less that an outright rejection of God himself. The only way to be saved - is in trusting Him and without Him you are without Hope. I’ll close with the classic- John 3:13-18 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. You are an idolater! I know because we all are, you love you, you love your sin, you love your idols. Sinner please, I implore you, turn from your sinful idolatry (this is repentance), and trust no longer in yourself, in your good works, in your obedience but trust instead on Him (this is faith or belief in him), is he not God, is he not able to save, was he not sinless in your place, did he not die for your sins, did he not rise, He is the God-Man Jesus Christ. Repent and Believe the Gospel.

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Bibliography:

1- http://www.godonthe.net/evidence/messiah.htm - Messianic prophecies fulfilled by Jesus

2 - http://www.christiananswers.net/dictionary/messianicprophecies.html - Messianic prophecies fulfilled by Christ

All scriptural texts provided by ESVbible.org – the Elect Standard Version.