Ephesians 1:7- 23

 

^{Ephesians 1:7- 23}

⁷ In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace ⁸ that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, ⁹ he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, ¹⁰ to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.

 ¹¹ In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, ¹² in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. ¹³ And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, ¹⁴ who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

 ¹⁵ For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, ¹⁶ I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. ¹⁷ I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit^[f] of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. ¹⁸ I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, ¹⁹ and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength ²⁰ he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, ²¹ far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. ²² And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, ²³ which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. (NIV)

“In Him” is the point I cannot drive home enough. Other phrases such as “His Blood”, “He made”, “His will and “He purposed “ shows over and over what we contribute to the equation of our salvation, and that being nothing! It was at the “fullness of time” or in perfect timing that Jesus came to gather both the “heavenly things” as well as the things on earth all back “in Him”.

Verse 11 once again starts with “In Him” and presents what we obtain being “in Him”. You who are “in Christ” obtained an inheritance as an adopted son! You see while the natural son might be disowned, yet the adopted son was never natural, but placed in the family and instated by decree of the family that the adopted was now a natural child. The predestination is not some pre-existing clause that somehow initiated you to be created “saved” and some not… and then just one day come to that realization as some Reformed traditions promote. Rather, that according to “His Will” those, “as verses 12 and 13 state, “who “trusted” to accept the counsel of “His Will” after having heard the word of truth would become not only sons, but be the “praise of His glory.

The Glory… is Jesus! (John 17:5) We in Christ are His praise unto the Father for what the Father does in and through Jesus! Now we in turn become the glory unto God through Jesus (John 17:10). Now how does this take place? Through trust! Trust is the responsive action based on having faith and belief in the other, who in this case is God in Christ… and then you are placed “in Christ”! Another note some miss is that the “gospel of your salvation” is not a set of doctrines but rather a person as Paul states “you were included in Christ when you heard” Often the gospel is represented by a series of events, and in some way this is true. However, here Paul is clear that salvation is the Person of Jesus Christ as you were placed “in Christ” when you heard, responded and believed on Jesus.

In verses 13-14 the Holy Spirit is finally mentioned filling out the whole of the Trinity as far as being mentioned. Here Paul states in verse 13 has place the Holy Spirit on you as a seal! A holy seal or decree that shows God Himself seals us. This concept of the “seal” is that of the kings ring which would be leave the insignia of the king on a royal letter in the wax that sealed the letter. The Holy Spirit is that seal that shows we are of the King Himself. The Holy Spirit is given as proof of ownership of sorts and proof that we are His until God redeems those who become His possession, to the praise of His Glory.

Paul spoke of those faithful in Ephesus as the “praise of His Glory”. So as Paul hears of their faith in turn gives thanks to God for their faith, even stating they are mentioned in his prayers. Paul prays that the may also receive the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him [Jesus]. Sadly, many traditions today have cut believers off from revelation and reduce it to experientialism (as if experiencing God is a bad thing) or worse claim it to be some sort of occult majick  or Gnosticism. Yet, Paul (who is writing scripture knowingly or not) teaches this as a good thing as he himself prays the believers receive these things. Paul prays “that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you”. Enlightenment is given that you may know gain understanding in relation to revelation that leads to hope. This enlightenment that leads us to hope can only come by revelation from God through the Holy Spirit.

To grasp the flow to this one might chart it out like this

1. Understanding the calling that was heard at salvation leads to
2. Enlightenment unto hope leads to…
3. The Hope in you were called to… leads to…
4. Stronger belief in Jesus which leads you to…
5. The Power of God that raised Jesus from the dead…

This power also raised you! It made you a new creation… yet also power in that the Kingdom of God has and is coming down to us. All authority and power is not Jesus as he rules over His Body… the Church. However, this rule and authority is different that just a king to his kingdom. This is a King to His own Body… it is relational… and in His Body, which is the Church the fullness of Christ fills everything… that includes you who are “in Christ”.

Three Stages to growing in Christ.

      What did happen at the Cross of Jesus and what do many people miss about the Resurrection? Many have tried to answer this so to attempt it in a blog post seems rather ridiculous, yet, to me by gaining an understanding that there is a distraction between the Cross and Resurrection one can gain insight to what God is doing for, in and through you as a believer.

      When I first came to Jesus I was told the basic, “Come to Jesus and give Him your sins and he will save you.” But I never really asked what I was being saved from, let alone realized that maybe that was not the real point and that I was not being saved “from” but into something greater and more wonderful than myself. For years I walked with a “self” focus. “I am not going to hell.” “I am going to heaven.” “God loves me.” And yes all that is true and I am grateful, yet as in the biblical book of Song of Solomon, one must move from “My lover is mine and I am his…” (Song of Solomon 2:16) to “I am my lover's and my lover is mine…” (Song of Solomon 6:3) and again move onto “I belong to my lover, and his desire is for me.” (Song of Solomon 7:10) from where we grow more in the knowledge of the grace of Christ and knowledge of what God has for us. We become like the beloved who states, “But my own vineyard is mine to give…” (Song of Solomon 8: 12) freely giving all we are to God through Jesus.

      Each stage is like a step unto a fuller and richer life in Christ. Yet so many stay at the first stage and never realize that there is more. We fall at the Cross and never realize it is not only Jesus on that Cross but our self… dead. Some may realize this yet not move into the next stage where we find that “I am Christ’ and He is mine” as we try to still assert ownership of “self” and not relinquish our self to the death that is required of us. Even less find the richness and greatness of the third stage where one finds their wholeness and life comes only from the Beloved. One at this point has found themselves dead, the old is gone! And behold I am now a New Creation!

      Now I know many are saying, “Oh this is basic 101 stuff, yet is it? I do believe one must pass through the stages to develop as a new creation. Do you need each stage to be saved? No, you need Grace for that, yet to grow, God must become all in you through Christ. You must relinquish your life and receive His life. How? The Life is in the Son. By receiving all that Jesus has for you. Have you done that already? Great! You are now on your way to learn how to become the beloved of God!

Being "perfect" and being "in Christ"

Interesting to me is that many see the phrase “be perfect” and believe it is not possible when Jesus states, “be perfect” (Matt 5: 48. Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.) At the time Jesus spoke it I think that it was laid out as a challenge for one to “try” to do under the Law, yet was not attainable until after Jesus died and rose again. If you couple that thought with Jesus’ prayer in John 17 he states:

“20. “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21. that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23. I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 24. "Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. 25. "Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them."

Now in a sense we are not yet “Perfect”… as Paul states; Phil 3: 10. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11. and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. 12. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

Yet Hebrews also states: Hebrews 7:28. For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.

Now go back and re-read the prayer of Jesus in John 17.. He is in the Father; the Father is in Jesus. Jesus is in us as He is in the Father… we are in Jesus as Jesus is in the Father.

When we come to new birth in Christ, we are “Baptized” into Christ (now please do not take that as getting wet… as the word “baptize” has more meaning that just getting dunked)

Gal 3:26. You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27. for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Here as in other places “baptized” means “placed in or immersed” (to immerse something you need to place that “something” into the water.)

Now read this passage where “baptizes” is mentioned in Romans:

Romans 6: 1. What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2. By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3. Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4. We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. 5. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. 6. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin-- 7. because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.

Notice when you start thinking of baptism as “placing something into” instead of dunking, that it sort of changes the meaning?

Now, we are place into Christ Jesus… we die to sin and live in Him. We then are “placed into” Jesus just as Adam was “placed into the Garden”…

Now there is not sin in Jesus so therefore if we are in Christ, and He has not sin, we have not sin!

In fact Paul states this of us: 2 Cor 5: 21. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

This is how we are made righteous and “perfect” in God’s eye… later we will be clothed in the imperishable… and raised incorruptible, but right now as we depend on Jesus totally we are being “perfect” as our Father in Heaven is perfect… by being “in Christ Jesus”.

iggy

Amazing Story of Rev Scott and the hymn All Hail the Power of Jesus Name

What is to become of the Emerging Church?

What is to become of the Emerging Church?

I have thought about this for a while. I see two paths...

1. The emerging church is only a phase, not to be confused with a passing "fad". God will move in phases. If you look at history, there are many cycles that seem to happen. Often there is growth and then persecution which moves into greater growth. Often the underdog become the new power. For example, early Christians were persecuted, yet not to the extent that was to come later. In this time there was growth as in the example of the 3000 that come to believe after Peter preached in Acts 2. This growth seems almost spontaneous as the Apostle often hear "rumors" of other towns who come to believe. Saul was one who also heard of this group call "the Way" and wanted to stop it as he saw them as apostate and following another "Messiah" other than that of the tradition of the Jews. Yet, as we read in Acts, God had other plans... and Saul became Paul and began planting even more churches.

Again, this pattern kept up until the time of Constantine. Nero and well as other Roman Emperors began harsh persecution until Consisting saw his vision of a Cross and the promise that under this banner he would win his battles. Then after Constantine's battle at Battle of Milvian Bridge 312 Constantine declared Christianity the official religion of Rome.

Now all that is very abbreviated and the debate could go on for some time whether Constantine declaration was a good thing or not. Yet the pattern is always there. We can look at the Reformation as following the same patters before and after and so on.

Now, we can look at the present situation in the same light, though I would not say the persecution is at all close to the violence of the past. It is in some countries, yet as far as here in America the persecution has only been in "words" and not the violence of the past. Yet, these words are aimed at twisting the message of the emerging church into something hideous. Now the path I see is that of persecution and growth. In fact I see this persecution of words is actually helping the emerging church gain more of an audience. People who have never heard of the emerging church now have thanks to those who write against it. Curiosity is a strange animal as people who are "warned" often see it as forbidden fruit and thus are attracted to the thing they are warned about. Now, that sound negative, yet, as in the early church there were those who sought out Christians to persecute them, found that their own lives were changed in dynamic ways. The bible speaks of the message of the cross as "foolishness": "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate."" (1 Cor 1:18-19) Those that have decided to use the ways of the world to attack and persecute the emerging church have actually exposed the authenticity and grace that is the foundation of the emerging church.

I see that this persecution is dying... and in that dying hard. People are seeing those for what they are and starting to look into deeper things of God and what the emerging church has to offer. This should bring new growth and though I hate to say, the death of the emerging church to bring out this new growth.

2. The second thing is that we of the emerging church are also growing and changing. Maturity comes with growth. This may be that the emerging church is really only realizing what God has been doing since the beginning. God gave many tools to the early church that have been covered over by man's traditions. Now that is not to say traditions are evil and bad, rather to say that the traditions we hold often taint the truth of scriptures be that mainline denominations or looking at theology from the Reformed point of view. I will caution that not all these traditions are wrong, yet that they should be held out for examination in light of scripture instead of holding scripture to those traditions.

In this we have authenticity and can continue in the values we hold as the emerging church. I believe God has raised up leaders and many others again to see these values the emerging church holds. These values are things such as authenticity, living incarnationally, (allowing Christ to live in and through us), living missionally, (living out the Great Commission of sharing the gospel and making disciples of Jesus), removing personal agendas as we approach others, and seeing God working in peoples lives even before they have come to Jesus for salvation. Of course there are many more, but to me these are the big ones.

In this we have become reacquainted with these values that God holds. I see that as we walk in these values God will begin even a greater growth or awaking of people to the Message of the Gospel

Be blessed,

iggy

Tozer Devotional: God in "People" Expression

The Next Chapter after the Last
Chapter # Twenty-Five
The Logic of the Incarnation
God in "People" Expression

If in the infinite condescension of God, mankind was made with a nature somewhat like its creator, then is it not reasonable that God could clothe Himself with human nature in the mystery of incarnation? and all within the framework of easy possibility without the embarrassment of uniting things unlike each other? When the ancient Word stood up in human flesh, He felt at home. He was not out of His element, for had He not heard the Father say, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness"? There was nor jar, no wrench caused by the forced union of dissimilar natures. It is our humble opinion that the "exile" element in the earthly experience of our Lord has been greatly overplayed. That He was sad and lonely and far from home, a stranger in a strange land, is an idea that has grown up around the beautiful and the simple fact, but it is not necessarily a part of the fact. So far as we can recall there is nothing in the record to give the impression that His presence in human flesh was an unnatural or painful experience. He happily called Himself "the Son of man," not an exile among men. All this is not to attempt to take away from the valid mystery that surrounds the Incarnation or to lessen the awe with which we contemplate the wonder of the Word becoming flesh to dwell among us. It is rather to clear away unauthorized notions and give the beauty of the Incarnation a chance to make its own impression upon us. That impression will be deep enough without our adding anything to it.

Prayer
Father, I see in Christ living among people what You desire in my living by means of the indwelling Spirit. He produces the product of His control-the fruit of the Spirit. May that fruit characterize my life!
Scripture

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.— John 1:14

Thought
In Christ, God becomes "people"-you and me kind of people except for our sin. He exuded the glory of the Only Begotten. The eye of faith could perceive His origin and sense that He was full of grace and truth. All this in "people" expression.

The mystic ladder of Divine love, according to Saint Bernard and Saint Thomas Step Four

The fourth step of this ladder of love is that whereby there is caused in the soul an habitual suffering because of the Beloved, yet without weariness. For, as Saint Augustine says, love makes all things that are great, grievous and burdensome to be almost naught. From this step the Bride was speaking when, desiring to attain to the last step, she said to the Spouse: ’set me as a seal upon thy heart, as a seal upon thine arm; for love—that is, the act and work of love—is strong as death, and emulation and importunity last as long as hell. The spirit here has so much strength that it has subjected the flesh and takes as little account of it as does the tree of one of its leaves. In no way does the soul here seek its own consolation or pleasure, either in God, or in aught else, nor does it desire or seek to pray to God for favours, for it sees clearly that it has already received enough of these, and all its anxiety is set upon the manner wherein it will be able to do something that is pleasing to God and to render Him some service such as He merits and in return for what it has received from Him, although it be greatly to its cost. The soul says in its heart and spirit: Ah, my God and Lord! How many are there that go to seek in Thee their own consolation and pleasure, and desire Thee to grant them favours and gifts; but those who long to do Thee pleasure and to give Thee something at their cost, setting their own interests last, are very few. The failure, my God, is not in Thy unwillingness to grant us new favours, but in our neglect to use those that we have received in Thy service alone, in order to constrain Thee to grant them to us continually. Exceeding lofty is this step of love; for, as the soul goes ever after God with love so true, imbued with the spirit of suffering for His sake, His Majesty oftentimes and quite habitually grants it joy, and visits it sweetly and delectably in the spirit; for the boundless love of Christ, the Word, cannot suffer the afflictions of His lover without succouring him. This He affirmed through Jeremias, saying: ‘I have remembered thee, pitying thy youth and tenderness, when thou wentest after Me in the wilderness. Speaking spiritually, this denotes the detachment which the soul now has interiorly from every creature, so that it rests not and nowhere finds quietness. This fourth step enkindles the soul and makes it to burn in such desire for God that it causes it to mount to the fifth, which is that which follows.

The Truth Wars... a reflection

I saw this and thought of the "Truth Wars" and thought...

If we are saved by Grace through Faith can one Christian be a "better" Christian than another?

It seems that scirpture teaches all are now equal first that all men sin and will die... and be judged. Then that if you be in Christ that there is no longer Jew of Gentile (which was a form of elitism in the scirpture as some Jews thought a person need convert to Judaism to be truly saved) and no male or female...

Yet, some think their Grace is of higher purity than others... I am not sure how they come to this heretical thought, but if one thinks they have all the truth... they seem to no longer have need for Jesus Who is Truth.

Truth is taught as an "absolute" it is taught as an "unchanging object". Truth is taught to be a higher reality as if there are two worlds... (dualism as taught by Plato) We are taught that we need to live by "principles" and that Truth is "propositional".

Yet, the bible elevates truth beyond these things... Truth is no longer an "object" but a Person... Truth is no longer an impersonal abstract absolute or an unchanging principle, as Truth became a man and dwelt amongst us.

The Bible teaches that Jesus is the Truth... and from Him all truth comes. It flows from Jesus as streams of living water. Yet, many hold to the idea that Truth is less than that and deny the revelation that Truth is now a Person and is now relational.

If truth is a higher reality, then we miss this personal aspect.

The bible teaches that the festivals and traditions of the Old Testament were truths in abstract and shadow form... and the reality is the Person of Jesus Christ. (Colossians 2:17) Even the principles and truth of the Law was only a shadow of what is to come... and not the reality. (Hebrews 10:1) Again this reality is now the Person of Jesus Christ.

We are to move from mental assent (simple belief) to a deeper belief called faith. Faith is the acknowledgment that is relational. When a spouse is faithful, they are staying true to their marriage vows... yet even more are staying true to their relationship with their husband or wife. So, as we experience the faithfulness of God in our salvation, we live by faith and interact in a Personal relationship.

As we walk and learn from Jesus, we come to realize that He is Truth and we learn to listen and follow His voice... that take trust. We are designed for relationship with God through Jesus.

Again, Jesus does teach truth (be it propositional) yet we must not reduce Jesus to a mere proposition or principal. In Christ we have life. We are to live by His Life... in that the truths we learn of and from Jesus, becomes our life and our New Reality... For now we are New Creations and in us God starts the beginnings of the New Creation.

Blessings,

iggy

Forgiveness

Luke 5:17-26

One day as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law, who had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem, were sitting there. And the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick. Some men came carrying a paralytic on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.

When Jesus saw their faith, he said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven."

The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, "Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?"

Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, "Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, `Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, `Get up and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. . . ."

He said to the paralyzed man, "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God.

Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, "We have seen remarkable things today."


In my reading and prayer today I wanted to share something that would bless my readers. In that I read this passage which always amazes me as Jesus forgives some one's sin and is rebuked for it. Jesus knows the heart of man and the darkness that dwells there. He asks a question which in all honesty I am not sure of the answer... "Which is easier: to say, `Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, `Get up and walk'?"

Maybe it is the translation from Greek to English and in that we lose something.

I rarely read commentaries... I may read a theological book yet unlike in my younger days when I would pour hours into commentaries I found most the time they really give me much insight... That is not bragging, but more that often I find that the commentary may point somethings out yet the "thing" I am looking for they do not touch.

For some reason I turned to Henry's Concise Commentary which stated:

17-26 How many are there in our assemblies, where the gospel is preached, who do not sit under the word, but sit by! It is to them as a tale that is told them, not as a message that is sent to them. Observe the duties taught and recommended to us by the history of the paralytic. In applying to Christ, we must be very pressing and urgent; that is an evidence of faith, and is very pleasing to Christ, and prevailing with him. Give us, Lord, the same kind of faith with respect to thy ability and willingness to heal our souls. Give us to desire the pardon of sin more than any earthly blessing, or life itself. Enable us to believe thy power to forgive sins; then will our souls cheerfully arise and go where thou pleasest.

I do like what Henry has to say, yet I still felt unsatisfied. I see that we are to press in to Jesus who will give us favor and will heal our souls... and sometimes our bodies. Yet, the point I see missed is that Jesus want us to live in a way that enacts forgiveness on others. The teachers and religious leaders of the taught that only God can forgive sins... and Jesus shows them that He the man, (yes God in flesh, but still a man) can and will forgive the sins of others. The title "Son of Man was the human title of Jesus... it was not a reference to His deity... He does show that He is as able as God to forgive others.

In that I see we need to beseech God for the forgiveness of others also.

Later in Luke 4:36-37 Jesus teaches more on the topic of forgiveness...

Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.

Part of our salvation is giving away the forgiveness we have been given.

Jesus gives grave warning in a parable to those who choose not to live a life of active forgiveness...

Matthew 18:21-35

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?"

Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. "Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.

"The servant fell on his knees before him. `Be patient with me,' he begged, `and I will pay back everything.' The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. "But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. `Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded. "His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, `Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.' "But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.

When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened. "Then the master called the servant in. `You wicked servant,' he said, `I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."

My prayer is that one will seek and find the forgiveness God offers at the Cross of Jesus... and in that find a new life of walking in that forgiveness by the Power of the Resurrection... that you the reader be brought and immersed into a deep understanding of the forgiveness of God.

I pray this also for myself for I know I fall short in giving away the forgiveness God gave me. I have come to learn that I cannot forgive others in my own strength. In these short comings one must fall on the merciful grace of God and by Him and through Him in the person of Faith in Christ, walk out our salvation... Trusting God to be the One who forgives others in and through you.

Blessings

iggy

The mystic ladder of Divine love, according to Saint Bernard and Saint Thomas

WE observe, then, that the steps of this ladder of love by which the soul mounts, one by one, to God, are ten. The first step of love causes the soul to languish, and this to its advantage. The Bride is speaking from this step of love when she says: ‘I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, that, if ye find my Beloved, ye tell Him that I am sick with love.’

This sickness, however, is not unto death, but for the glory of God, for in this sickness the soul swoons as to sin and as to all things that are not God, for the sake of God Himself, even as David testifies, saying: ‘My soul hath swooned away’. —that is, with respect to all things, for Thy salvation. For just as a sick man first of all loses his appetite and taste for all food, and his colour changes, so likewise in this degree of love the soul loses its taste and desire for all things and changes its colour and the other accidentals of its past life, like one in love. The soul falls not into this sickness if excess of heat be not communicated to it from above, even as is expressed in that verse of David which says: Pluviam voluntariam segregabis, Deus, haereditati tuae, et infirmata est, etc. This sickness and swooning to all things, which is the beginning and the first step on the road to God, we clearly described above, when we were speaking of the annihilation wherein the soul finds itself when it begins to climb this ladder of contemplative purgation, when it can find no pleasure, support, consolation or abiding-place in anything soever. Wherefore from this step it begins at once to climb to the second.


From CHAPTER XIX of Dark Night of the Soul by St. John of the Cross

Thoughts on predestination...

I have been thinking (not to hard though so be pre-warned) about predestination.

I wonder if even though God foreknows, and has predestined those in Christ to be conformed to His Image, that all are predestined, yet not all will believe that.

Meaning that Peter states that the will of God is that none should perish... 2 Peter 3: 9.

"The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance."

Now I hope that you can see that this verse is not about the "elect" but toward the lost. Yet, it seems that not all will go according to Gods will and some will be lost. Or the other idea is that there is some sort of Universalism, which I do not buy into as the bulk of scripture seems contrary to that idea.

Yet, if it is about "all the elect coming to repentance", then I think that we miss that God is still losing those who are not elect. Meaning that I the will of God is salvation for all mankind and all are forgiven, (not just the elect or there be not justice in the judgment against the non elect) there seems that there still is this aspect that some will be outside of God's will... which puts a damper on the Sovereignty of God and I can see why some choose Calvinism.

Yet, I see that there is another way to look at this.

I see that all are predestined... meaning all mankind was created in the image of God, yet choose not to fulfill that vocation. Instead, they choose not to walk in accordance to God's will but their own. God can rightly judge and be totally just in that man forsakes His will and man deserves his judgment,

Now, if all are predestined to salvation, yet some do not accept God's will in this they are lost. This may be close to what Spencer Burke was trying to convey in his book Heretics Guide to Eternity, but I think he fell short in that explanation. (Sorry Spence!)

The bible states God predestined us to be in Jesus before the creation of the world... yet also the bible teaches in Ephesians 1: 9-12

"And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment--to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. 11. In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory."


Notice that God reveals this mystery of His will that He purposed in Christ and Him (Jesus) we are also chosen. So if one is not in Jesus THEN they are not chosen. For one must be in Christ to be chosen. Jesus was the One that was predestined and revealed according to the plan of God to bring all things into conformity through Jesus.

Now, again I have not fleshed this all out, but the point is this if you have gotten this far and missed what I am saying, which I would not doubt could happen.

Jesus was predestined to bring all things into conformity with God’s will. We were not in Christ at the creation of the world...

1. So point one I quote 1 Peter 1:20 -21 He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.

2. Point 2 is that we were not in Christ at the foundation of the world. The only verse that state something like this is 1 Peter 1-2

"Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To God's elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.”

Now if one looks closely that it does not say that you existed in Jesus before creation... it states that because of God's foreknowledge that the elect have been chosen, yet it is through the sanctifying work of the Spirit for the obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by His Blood... it all still hinges on being in Christ for it is Jesus that was foreknown and predestined... and to be part of that predestination one still need be in Christ.


Note Peter goes on in verse 20 -21:

“He [Jesus] was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God."

This is not about God knowing you and choosing you before the creation of the world... but knowing Jesus and His destination.

I know the next verse to be brought up is Ephesians 1: 4 -6.

"For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will-- to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves."

Note still it says "For He chose us IN HIM before the creation of the world" not "He chose us to be in Him before the creation of the world."


The difference is still that we must be IN HIM... meaning we must be IN CHRIST, to be part of His predestination... and be conformed to His Image.

Predestination as taught by some seems predicated on the idea man is am immortal being that has always existed... the bible teaches man is not an immortal being and that immortality is only though Jesus Christ for He is the only immortal One. (1 Timothy 6:15) This is where Gnosticism has entered Christianity as Plato taught that man was immortal and existed with God before creation.

Again, before you go off on me, this is just the beginnings of my thoughts on this and I have yet to fully flesh this out but I hope that one can see that Christianity is based all on Jesus and Who He is and not about man or that some are "special" and have been elected to be chosen over others for salvation.

Be Blessed,
iggy



Romans 8: 29-30. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

Grace is not a "Bar of Soap"

I was looking as some stats and noticed where some "hits" on this blog came from.

And I came across someone using this picture to express what grace was all about.

Truly this person has no clue what the Grace of God is all about.

Grace is not a bar of soap to be taken out only when one sins. That is almost an insult to what Grace is. Grace is the substance in which all things are held together. Some call that common grace, yet there is nothing "common" about it.
God created all things through Jesus Christ. (1 Cor 8)

Since all things were created through Jesus, we must realize that all things were originally created in Grace and Truth as Jesus is full of Grace and Truth. (John 1:14)

So Grace is in its fullness literally Jesus Christ.

From this knowledge of Grace, we now see that God is drawing all things back to Himself in Jesus Christ. For the Bible teaches, "For he "has put everything under his feet." Now when it says that "everything" has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all." 1 Cor 15: 27-28)

Grace comes from and is Jesus Christ. It has from the original creation until even now in the New Creation that began when the stone was rolled away.

I searched for a picture that might actually represent what Grace is. I came up with a few... yet, I realized there is only One Picture that truly represents Grace in its fullness. That is the Picture of Jesus Christ. From His preincarnation in the Father... to when the Father began the Great Conversation when he Spoke, "Let there be..." and it was... through Christ Jesus.

To the many stories and antitype throughout the scirpture that are the shadows... to the reality of Jesus' birth, life, death on the Cross... to the Resurrection as His Kingdom was ushered in, to the Ascension and now as he sits in His Glory and we await His return to bring His Kingdom in its fullness.

The Picture of Jesus is the very Picture of Grace itself...

To say Grace is nothing but a bar of soap that we use to wash ourselves on occasion is truly shameful and honestly a sin.

We are washed by the Blood... shed by Jesus... as He being Grace showed us Grace in action.

I hope that no one reduces Jesus to a bar of soap... for He is Life itself and apart from Him there is no Life.

blessings,
iggy

Walking Through Romans pt 12: Romans 8:18 - 39

Walking Through Romans pt 12: Romans 8:18 - 39

8:18 For I consider that our present sufferings cannot even be compared to the glory that will be revealed to us. 8:19 For the creation eagerly waits for the revelation of the sons of God. 8:20 For the creation was subjected to futility – not willingly but because of God who subjected it – in hope 8:21 that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage of decay into the glorious freedom of God’s children. 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers together until now. 8:23 Not only this, but we ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we eagerly await our adoption, the redemption of our bodies. 8:24 For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees? 8:25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with endurance.
8:26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how we should pray, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings. 8:27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes on behalf of the saints according to God’s will. 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose, 8:29 because those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 8:30 And those he predestined, he also called; and those he called, he also justified; and those he justified, he also glorified.
8:31 What then shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 8:32 Indeed, he who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – how will he not also, along with him, freely give us all things? 8:33 Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 8:34 Who is the one who will condemn? Christ is the one who died (and more than that, he was raised), who is at the right hand of God, and who also is interceding for us. 8:35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will trouble, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 8:36 As it is written, “For your sake we encounter death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” 8:37 No, in all these things we have complete victory through him who loved us! 8:38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor heavenly rulers, nor things that are present, nor things to come, nor powers, 8:39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I see that suffering is something that most Americans do not relate to. To many think that the cable TV going down or not having a hot shower in the morning… or running to late for work that you can’t stop for a latte is suffering.

Yet, saying that there is a suffering deeper in the heart of man that many may cover with such things.
Paul’s sufferings were both physical and mental as he was often on the defense of his teachings, and even of his very life as some sought to bring him down in some way even at times subjecting him to stoning.

Some countries the physical sufferings we here cannot fathom… yet in all this, Paul states that “our present sufferings cannot even be compared to the glory that will be revealed to us.” This Glory is Jesus Christ Himself.

Because of man who gave over his dominion of the earth and creation as a whole to Satan, the creation cries out in its own suffering. We often do not think of the creation as suffering yet Paul states: “the whole creation groans and suffers together until now”

What more we too groan in these bodies of decay, and hope for the Resurrection where we will receive new imperishable bodies.

Many place their faith in the idea that we can understand through rationalizing and science proves God’s word. This places God’s word in subjection to the process of science. Science itself is not bad, yet if one uses it to prove God I see something wrong. It is like saying that man is capable of understanding God if he gathers enough info. It is saying that God is not beyond mans finite mind and mental capacities and placing ourselves as equal if not above God.

If one then believes the Bible then as he does research finds once again God’s word to be true, then science in subject to God’s word.

The contrast to all of this though is the understanding that it is Hope we are saved. It is the Hope that in placing our faith in the finished works of Christ Jesus we find salvation. We do not see this at present, or at best may get a fleeting glimpse that passes in a moment. Yet, we who place our hope in Jesus press forward in this hope with endurance until this hope is fulfilled.

Paul goes one that in the same way we press on in endurance by hope we also do not know how to even pray. As one who is so far from perfection we must depend on the Holy Spirit to interpret our own inward groanings. As the Holy Spirit does this He intercedes on our behalf. It seems God has thought of everything doesn’t it?

As we are in Christ Jesus, the Father works His will and purpose and works all things together for our good.

God knowing that there would be those who would be in Christ, also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son. God also by making Jesus the firstborn of the New Creation, now has made a way that we also will be brothers and sisters born into this same New Creation we have in Christ Jesus.

Before we were predestined we were called. In that we either answer “No.” or “Yes”. We must come to the point were we have not where else to go as the disciples stated to Jesus (john 6:68).

I see that many miss this and struggle for years to realize this crucial point, that we are dead in our sins… and as we come to Christ, we place our sins in Christ and our dead in Christ, but alive by His resurrection and given New Life.

As we walk forward in perseverance, we walking in Hope… this Hope is Jesus Christ. (Titus 2:13) Yet also in this calling and do His will and good works, we find that we are justified. Justification is not a one shot deal at the Cross… as we are given Grace, Mercy and Love to give away, we also are given Justice to give away.

Our God is for us. Many suffer from bad teaching that tells them that “God hates sinners” and if a person is honest, they know they are sinners. If a person listens long enough to this sort of bad theology, they then begin to not live in victory, but focus on their own fruit. They do not realize that all men are bad trees and thus bear bad fruit. It is God alone who bears Good Fruit as He alone is the Good True. By listening to the lies, they become in bondage to a performance or shame based faith. They fall from grace to works and again if honest enough find they no matter how hard they try, they will always fall short.

That is why it is crucial to understand God’s Love. God is for us. If God justifies a man, who can say God is wrong? No one can condemn you because Jesus sits by the Father and intercede for you. I think Jesus trumps everyone else in this game.

It is this great love for us God has. Nothing can separate us from it. In Christ we are secure and immersed in the greatest love of all.

Never let anyone tell you that God hates you because you sin… It seems that God loves sinners most of all. For He loves them so much that He sent His Son to die in their place. All in hope that we come to trust God in His love for us and find true comfort from our sufferings and even more that we grow into the image of Jesus.

Blessings,
iggy

Check out Missional Apologetics

Great new site... Missional Apologetics

Here is a bit from the site:

A Missional Apologetic Manifesto

1. Missional Apologetics applies the insights of missiology, recognizing that all Jesus-followers are called to be missionaries wherever they are.
2. Missional Apologetics emphasizes the importance of cultural studies and cross-cultural principles.
3. Missional Apologetics understands the importance of contextualization.
4. Missional Apologetics flows out of relationships.
5. Missional Apologetics employs reason, experience, and emotion, understanding the limitations of all.
6. Missional Apologetics incorporates one’s ears as well as mouth.
7. Missional Apologetics relies on the gospel lived, as well as taught.
8. Missional Apologetics requires serious reflection flowing from a mature biblical and theological foundation.
9. Missional Apologetics is engaged in by people who are lifelong learners.
10. Missional Apologetics is patient, recognizing that most people process new or difficult ideas over time.
11. Missional Apologetics recognizes that sometimes the best apologetic is an apology.
12. Missional Apologetics isn’t afraid of mystery and wonder. Rather, this compliments our understanding of a God who is immanent, yet transcendent.
13. Missional Apologetics values honesty over pretending to know it all.
14. Missional Apologetics seeks to create an environment where it’s safe to challenge, confront, and critique the Christian faith.
15. Missional Apologetics is centered on the Gospel, which is for everyone who believes. Therefore, Missional Apologetics does not discriminate.
16. Missional Apologetics is most effective in an environment where practitioners are allowed to fail, risk, dream, and imagine.
17. Missional Apologetics is comfortable with doubt.
18. Missional Apologetics is sociologically informed.
19. Missional Apologetics encourages dialogue, not merely monologue.
20. Missional Apologetics takes questions seriously.
21. Missional Apologetics is used as a tool for mission.
22. Missional Apologetics stands on the shoulders of its historical precursors, yet presses forward to contextually and relevantly apply apologetics in today’s world.
23. Missional Apologetics is humble, recognizing the role of the Holy Spirit.
24. Missional Apologetics understands it’s limitations, and that there is One Savior, Jesus Christ.
25. Missional Apologetics is ethical, and therefore uses the mind and hands to address social injustices, evil, and suffering in the world.
26. Missional Apologetics is dynamic, not static, as will likely be demonstrated by the additions, deletions, and revisions to this manifesto as time and relevance demands.
    
    
    

Blessings,

iggy

Dealing with Discontentment: My personal journey

My journey is not about discontentment in The Body, rather what part do I play in the True Body versus those who are playing churchianity?

Now that may sound a bit harsh, as many are sincere in the belief... and I applaud anyone who can stay within a "man made structure" and work for the Lord within... I had done that a while myself.

Yet, I find that true contentment is only found in the Person of Jesus Christ. As He lives His Life in and through me, I may not like the situation, yet must rejoice that whatever the Master sees fit for me to do, He is doing and I am privileged to be used by Him.

So many people focus on their own lives and have never truly found His. They stop at the Cross and received forgiveness but never press in deeper to receive His Life...

Romans 5:10 states: "For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!"

We are saved by the Life of Christ... in that we must then be dead... and I see that many are still living their own life and have not realized that they must come to the realization they must give up... simply come to the end of themselves. As a good friend of mine states, "If you come the the end of your rope, grease that sucker and let go. There you will find God."

So, I agree their are many that are discontent, and many that even may come here still searching for something to fill the void in their heart... and all I can say is that we need to not only follow Jesus to the Cross, but to His death, burial and Resurrection and in that find a New Life... as New Creations... and rest in that Truth.

We will always dis agree in our fellowship... we will always not see things exactly, and that is as it should be... I am sure my ears and my toes experience much different things as they are part of my own Body... so I think the same with Christ Jesus' Body...

So, if this site fosters discontentment, rejoice! If God brings one here who is discontent then they may be here to find His Life... and in that find their being Him and realize what part of the Body they may be...

Blessings,
iggy

Great Quotes: Tozer on Christian Mystics

"Some of the great saints, who were great because they took such admonitions seriously and sought to practice them, managed to achieve the sanctification of the secular, or perhaps I should say the abolition of the secular. Their attitude toward life’s common things raised those above the common and imparted to them an aura of divinity. These pure souls broke down the high walls that separated the various areas of their lives from each other and saw all as one; and that one they offered to God as a holy oblation acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

Nicholas Herman (Brother Lawrence) made his most common act one of devotion: “The time of business does not with me differ from the time of prayer,” he said, “and in the noise and clatter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess God in as great tranquility as if I were upon my knees at the blessed sacrament.”

Francis of Assisi accepted the whole creation as his house of worship and called upon everything great and small to join him in adoration of the Godhead. Mother earth, the burning sun, the silver moon, the stars of evening, wind, water, flowers, fruits-all were invited to praise with him their God and King. Hardly a spot was left that could be called secular. The whole world glowed like Moses’ bush with the light of God, and before it the saint kneeled and removed his shoes.

Thomas Traherne, the seventeenth century Christian writer, declared that the children of the King can never enjoy the world aright till every morning they wake up in heaven, see themselves in the Father’s palace, and look upon the skies, the earth and the air as celestial joys, having such a reverent esteem for all as if they were among the angels."

~ The Sanctification of the Secular by Tozer

Freedom to Choose Life

Freedom to Choose

Great Quotes: Maj Ian Thomas

YOU MUST HAVE WHAT HE IS (LIFE)
TO BE WHAT HE WAS (PERFECT)
By: Major W. Ian Thomas

For godliness is not the consequence of your capacity to imitate God, but the consequence of His capacity to reproduce Himself in you; not self-righteousness, but Christ-righteousness; the righteousness which is by faith ­ a faith which by renewed dependence upon God releases His divine action, to restore the marred image of the Invisible God. It is not inactivity, but Christ-activity; God in action accomplishing the divine end through human personality - never reducing man to the status of a cabbage, but exalting man to the stature of king! "For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:17).

At first sight this might seem to offer to you the possibility of sinless perfection as the result of spiritual regeneration, but this is far from being the case; for it is only your faith and your obedience which allow Him to be in you now what He was then (perfect) - and you will be what He was then only to the degree in which you allow Him to be in you what He is now (perfect)!

All of the Father was available to all of the Son, because by His faith-love relationship, all of the Son was available to all of the Father, and this constituted His perfect manhood; and the availability of the Son to you will be in the degree of your availability to the Son, because of your faith-love relationship to Him!

From: The Mystery of Godliness. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House. ©1964.

Monergism versus Synergism or do we have too many "isms"?

Monergism versus Synergism or do we have too many "isms"?

Now in the “heat” of a recent attack it was stated I did not believe in Monergism and that I believed in Synergism… Here I admit I mistakenly understood Synergism as a different term than was thrown at me. Yet, I do and am a Monergism… but maybe not in the traditional sense or at least by the “Calvinist” defintion.

In fact I see that the Calvinist view is opposed to the Biblical view as I have stated already.

Yet, saying that, the traditional definition of Monergism is:


Monergism (literal "one work.")
Monergists correctly assert that conversion is the single work of God. It is God who saves through Christ. It is God who creates faith through the hearing of the Gospel.

As opposed to synergism.

Synergists believe that conversion is a cooperative work between man and God (see "Pelagianism").

Pelagianism
The fifth century heresy of Pelagius who taught that man is not totally corrupt and can be saved by an act of his own will (see "Arminianism," "Monergism," "Revivalism," "Total Depravity").

Now, I know in the past I held a more traditional Armininian view that man was not totally corrupt, yet I see in scripture that all men have sin and no one is righteous. I do see though that the idea of the Calvinistic “Total depravity” may not be as biblical as is supposed.
I see in scripture that man can choose. If one reads Irenaeus they will see that he taught man does know the difference between good and bad… yet it seems mankind has a short coming as far as man being neutral and knowing good from evil yet losing his path and choosing not to come to Christ for salvation… I see that man being neutral chooses his own way, and in that without the Holy Spirit to come to call us out of the path that leads to death one will be doomed to the penalty of his sin… no matter the man more good than bad, sin demands its payment of death. To sin once is to forfeit eternal life…

Many think that man is immortal and the I Scripture clearly states Jesus alone was immortal. This death then is the end of a man… yet with Christ alone man is redeemed. Redemption is the sole act of God. A man seeking after God and His goodness will find that he hears the Calling that leads to repentance and conversion, redemption and salvation.

To say that regeneration takes place first misses that regeneration is the act of the transformation of sinner to saint… it is not that act of Grace that for a moments opens a sinners eyes, for that is Mercy and Grace showing the Loving Kindness of God… this then leads to repentance…

To place regeneration is a grave misunderstanding that confuses the atonement with salvation. Some take justification and salvation as the same and to me they are not. We were justified/atoned at the Cross, this was the sole act of Christ and there is nothing we can add to it. We are also only redeemed by the power of the Resurrection as it is by Christ’s very Life we now Live… for the redemption unto salvation is solely the work of Christ alone and it is that He lives His life in and though us. To think we can add our own “works” to gain more sanctification misses that the reason se are sanctified is that Christ is living in us and these works are His and His alone… they are not ours.

So, I do not make a good Calvinist, yet I do believe that it is the total working of the Calling of the Holy Spirit that we are saved. Our response is only that… a response that we agree that there is no work we can do to be saved and not a work in that we are part of the process of salvation. It is not in our “turning” we are saved, it is in the calling that we hear and respond… and our total surrender that we realize there is no way to salvation except by God’s Mercy and Grace.

There is a joke that illustrates this:

A man died and came to Saint Peter at the gate of Heaven. Peter told them man that he will be awarded points to enter in… he only needed 100 and he would be able to enter into heaven freely.
So the man stated proudly, “I never cheated on my wife.”
Peter replied, “Very good, that is worth 2 points.”
The man stated, “I never stole anything from anyone.”
Peter looked and smiled and stated, “Very good! You now have three points!”
This went on for about an hour and the man wearily looked at Peter and stated, “I have nothing else… it looks like I can only enter by the Grace of God.”

Peter smiled brightly and hit a button… and the Gates opened wide… as Peter stated, “That is the only right answer! Enter in!”

Now remember that is a joke to illustrate a point and I do believe we need to accept Jesus to receive that Grace… this “joke” falls short on many levels yet the point that we are at God’s mercy… and Grace… is the point. If a man thinks there be any other way, he is deceived… and the Truth is not in him.

As far as Synergism or being a synergist… I see that salvation alone is of God… the only part we play is that we come to an end of ourselves and turn to God through Jesus and cry out “Lord, save a poor sinner like me.”, and in that moment are brought into a relationship… is the of desperation a “work” of us? No, I see it a realization of our condition… that being a moral agent we do not have the tools to carry through.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer calls this “shame” and which is our condition, and in that we can be shamed by most anything so it is not the resolution as it is acquired and learned… Yet, it is in the recognition of our disunion that we find this condition if left on our terms, on reconcilable. It is not that we are totally depraved, but ill-equipped to be able to sustain a “righteousness” that is of God’s approval on our own… we in a sense see what we are to do, but as Paul laments do not do as we ought to do.

This condition is the recognition of having a sin nature… a nature that runs contrary to the good that God desires for us. If left unchecked God then turns one over to their depraved thinking and in that we only earn the wages that sin offers. If given that we have the realization that we are moral agents that have lost their moral grounds, we then turn to Christ Jesus, we find in that the Calling, and in that the Voice of One Who calls out forgiveness and a new way of Life… it is in this Kindness we find redemption as we repent (which means to turn around) which can be either tears of sorrow and thanksgiving or tears of rejoicing and gratitude… repentance in not a formula, but a heart changed by God Himself.

Some may now criticize that I have not given Bible references… and if that is you, then you don’t need them… go and search and then prove me wrong if you need to. Yet, I know there are those who may not have read the Bible… and I commend you for getting past all the “isms” as I hope that an “ism” does not keep you from Jesus. If you have never read the Bible before, start in John, or any of the Gospels… read them as a story of a friend you have just met… and just try to get to know Him… you will be amazed at how much you will grasp with just an open heart. Most who have walked with Christ often assume they know the Gospels...yet, in them even if you do not understand what is going on, Jesus will still speak to you clearly in what you need to know now. In that I hope that the Life that Christ Jesus lived will come to be Life itself for you also.

Blessings,
iggy

Jason Clark:There’s No Such Thing as Christian Ethics

Jason Clark points out that "There’s No Such Thing as Christian Ethics."

Now don't get you undies in a bunch... take a listen first. The idea is that there should not be a separation between "being a Christian" and "being ethical". That to think one can "add on" to their faith "taking care of the poor, social justice or being good stewards of this planet" as if these are just options.

blessings,
iggy