To be very honest, I feel that this Romans 10 passage settles the matter of what salvation is and whether or not Jesus Christ is Lord of the Christian, but since the debate continues to rage, I will tackle some more Scriptural evidence to demonstrate that Jesus is Lord, and salvation is submission to His Lordship.
Turn in your own Bible to Luke 1:26-35. Read it...for real... Ok, so Gabriel, God's chosen messenger angel, tells Mary exactly who Jesus IS and will be: the "Son of the Highest", and He will be given the throne, not a throne and He will reign. I don't think that needs very much explaining. The obviousness of Jesus being King and therefore undeniably Lord is all over this passage.
Next, take a look at the temptation of Jesus in Luke 4:1-13. Jesus responds to each temptation with O.T. Scripture. The latter two reveal to us that Jesus clearly claimed His own Lordship. There was no confusion in Satan's mind either, and in this whole temptation, Satan knows from Scripture that Jesus' path to the cross is one that will lead to ultimate authority, to being Lord over all things. (Eph. 1:18-23) Satan understands the cross will be his own defeat and Christ's ultimate exaltation. So Satan's tactic is to get Jesus to seek that authority and Lordship in an illegitimate way. To those two temptations the Lord Jesus responded with:
1."It is written, you shall serve the LORD your God, and serve Him only."
2. "It is said, 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'" He is clearly speaking about Himself and calling Himself, "the Lord your God".
8/3/11
I'm cutting into all the stuff I have on this study. Many things have been occupying my time and study lately, and I just want to sum up this issue of Lordship salvation versus 'easy believism'. It is really very simple. Any serious student of God's Word must come to the conclusion that Jesus Christ IS Lord. There is no disputing that. All things have been put in subjection under His feet (Eph 1) Hebrews, Colossians, Romans, all of the N.T. makes this abundantly clear. The issue in regards to our salvation is whether or not we recognize WHO Jesus Christ really is. If we see Him only as what we make Him out to be, the One who can meet our needs, or take away our bad feelings, or whatever, then we are not believing and trusting in the real Jesus. Admittedly, salvation itself is perhaps the greatest mystery in the universe; the why and how boggle the mind when you really apply yourself to understand it. Yet, the Gospel message is so incredibly straightforward. The conclusion I come to from submitting to the infallible Word of God is that Jesus Christ has redeemed me with His own blood, and therefore, I literally belong to Him, as a slave belongs to a Master, as a son is totally subject to the authority of his father, so I am totally subject to the authority of Christ. Will I occasionally stumble in some sin? Yes, but His Lordship remains real and true. Now, if you believe you can be saved and not be under the authority of Jesus Christ our Lord, then I think you may not be seeing Jesus for who He really is.
If you have any questions, or if you want to see the rest of the Scriptures and the study I did on this, please feel free to comment or email me. Thanks for reading, and may the Lord bless you as you read His Word.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Friday, June 10, 2011
Quick thoughts
Have you ever heard someone say this to you: "Jesus was just a good teacher," or "Jesus never claimed to be God," or "Don't all roads lead to heaven?" or "Isn't the message of Jesus to just be kind and do good things?" I'm sure there are many more statements like these that we hear everyday, and Christians are accused constantly of being "narrow-minded", or bigoted, or "intolerant". The cry of this generation is seen on car-bumpers everywhere: "COEXIST".
Have you ever thought about what that word really means? Follow that thought out to its logical conclusion...yep. It really means 'DON'T BELIEVE ANYTHING'. Because if you do, then you are being intolerant of someone else. All of the religions of the world make exclusive claims. Can they really ALL be right? How about the post-modern thinking of the day? It wants to obscure the whole issue of faith and say that "there really is no truth or error, no up or down, black or white, light or dark. It's all just different shades of grey, right? Just be cool man, don't take a stand for anything cause we're just bits of matter driven by fate and one day we'll fade into nothingness"...Yep, that's the mantra of this generation, and it leads to the destruction of the family, the weakening of the Church, and the breakdown of society itself.
THINK about the claims of postmodernism. Can it really be that there are no absolutes, no objective truths? We can run around and claim that all day long, but when night falls, and evil comes knocking on our doors, WHO do we call out to? When injustice invades our lives, what do we cry out for? To what system of power, goodness and justice are we appealing to? What is law, and where does it come from?
THINK about the person of Jesus Christ. He claimed to be God, to be sent from God, and that He had come to seek and save that which is lost, that He came to die in our place, and lead the people of God out from the disgusting and vile wretchedness of our enslavement to sin and fear of death into the kingdom of heaven, into the light of truth and purpose, the family of God.
Christians, if we don't maintain the exclusive claims of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, then our church meetings are in vain, our worship is pointless, and we should just call all the missionaries home. If we have no absolute, guiding truth from God to which people can look and be delivered, then why are we doing this Christian thing? If we aren't living lives of obedience to God's Word, and telling the truth about sin, how will people know they need a Savior? If we look, sound, and act just like the world (cosmos=the world system), then Christianity is no more real and true than any other belief system.
Christians, know your Bible, speak the truth, and don't be afraid that holding the line will cost you anything truly valuable. Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us, and death is only graduation day!
Have you ever thought about what that word really means? Follow that thought out to its logical conclusion...yep. It really means 'DON'T BELIEVE ANYTHING'. Because if you do, then you are being intolerant of someone else. All of the religions of the world make exclusive claims. Can they really ALL be right? How about the post-modern thinking of the day? It wants to obscure the whole issue of faith and say that "there really is no truth or error, no up or down, black or white, light or dark. It's all just different shades of grey, right? Just be cool man, don't take a stand for anything cause we're just bits of matter driven by fate and one day we'll fade into nothingness"...Yep, that's the mantra of this generation, and it leads to the destruction of the family, the weakening of the Church, and the breakdown of society itself.
THINK about the claims of postmodernism. Can it really be that there are no absolutes, no objective truths? We can run around and claim that all day long, but when night falls, and evil comes knocking on our doors, WHO do we call out to? When injustice invades our lives, what do we cry out for? To what system of power, goodness and justice are we appealing to? What is law, and where does it come from?
THINK about the person of Jesus Christ. He claimed to be God, to be sent from God, and that He had come to seek and save that which is lost, that He came to die in our place, and lead the people of God out from the disgusting and vile wretchedness of our enslavement to sin and fear of death into the kingdom of heaven, into the light of truth and purpose, the family of God.
Christians, if we don't maintain the exclusive claims of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, then our church meetings are in vain, our worship is pointless, and we should just call all the missionaries home. If we have no absolute, guiding truth from God to which people can look and be delivered, then why are we doing this Christian thing? If we aren't living lives of obedience to God's Word, and telling the truth about sin, how will people know they need a Savior? If we look, sound, and act just like the world (cosmos=the world system), then Christianity is no more real and true than any other belief system.
Christians, know your Bible, speak the truth, and don't be afraid that holding the line will cost you anything truly valuable. Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us, and death is only graduation day!
Friday, June 3, 2011
Lordship Salvation: What is Salvation? Part II
This is going to be another look at Romans 10:9,10. I did these two studies at different times and took the passage as it came. This second look has helped me to define even further what is being stated by Paul, and to understand what the real question is in regards to our salvation and the Lordship of Christ. I will state it here so we can fix the theme in our minds: The real question for a Christian is NOT, "Is Jesus Lord of my life?" Jesus is Lord of all, and if you have trusted in Christ, you cannot just take Him as your Saviour. He will come to you with everything that He is, and that means that He IS Lord of your life. He is on the throne. The real question is, "Am I obeying my Lord?" We don't get to 'make Him Lord'. It's simply not up to us. Let's look in Romans 10 and see why.
If you haven't read the text, just pull out your Bible, and take a look at it. The depths here are incredible! Let's think about some titles here: "If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord..." Lord is 'kurios' in Koine (Common) Greek, the language of the N.T. It was used widely of any master, someone who owned slaves and exercised sovereign power over his possessions. It was also used of Rabbi's by their disciples. It was very consistently used by people Jesus encountered on earth when they addressed Him. This word 'kurios' is specifically intended to define the relationship, and it is that of a disciple to his teacher, and a slave to his master. Paul clearly sets forth here what Christ taught throughout His ministry, and remember that "Lord" is a title, so it gets the article (the Lord). When I pray or discuss Him with others, I almost always refer to Him as 'the Lord'. The Jews most sacred name and the Hebrew equivalent of 'kurios' is 'Yahweh', technically spelled 'Yhwh'. The Jew wouldn't even speak this name or write it out fully, believing God's name to be absolutely and unspeakably holy!
These titles tell us something very important. When we think about Jesus the Christ, specifically included in our thinking must be an essential understanding of the nature of this 2nd Person of the Triune God. Jesus is Lord/Yahweh/Master. You cannot truly understand who Jesus is unless You see Him as the divine, all-powerful, perfect Master of your own life and all of creation. The N.T. is explicitly clear in laying out Jesus the Christ as having total authority and power over all things. We see this in:
Ephesians 1:18-23 "I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might, which He brought about in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in this one to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fulness of Him who fills all in all."
Phil. 2:9-11 "God highly exalted Him, and bestowed upon Him the name which is above every name..."
Col. 1;15-23 and 2:8-15 (read them)
You do not know and serve the true Christ unless you believe in and submit to Him as Lord and Saviour. It really isn't an option, as a Christian, to decide when you want to 'make Him Lord of your life'. If He isn't Lord of your life, then you aren't a Christian. Doesn't Paul say this exactly? "If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved." Confession is to do what; to speak the truth, to homo(same) logeo(say), to same-say, to agree with God.
So we can understand that Paul is building his whole point on the reality that God has spoken about His Son, and God has made it clear that His Son is Lord of all, and is to be honored as such. So for us to be saved, we must say the same; we must openly confess the truth.
"For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” (Mark 8:38)
The point that God has spoken concerning His Son can be powerfully established from the rest of Scripture (remember that the best way to correctly interpret Scripture is by reading other Scripture) I already gave you a few. We can also look at Luke 3:21-22, at Jesus' baptism, where God the Father clearly establishes Jesus as being "My Son", making Him equal with God. We can also go to the visions of Daniel where again and again, Christ is pictured as the conquering King, the one who comes to render judgment. We can examine the incredible Christology of the great book of Hebrews, where we see the absolute Lordship and Kingly priesthood of our Savior. We can also look at the Gospel account of the Transfiguration of Jesus Christ, when the veil of flesh was pulled back and Peter, James, and John saw the burning white light of his Holy divinity (still somewhat reduced) come flying out of His face and body. In that moment, there were no words, no false submission, no pretense, no acting as if Jesus weren't Lord of all.
We can read and understand John 1 and see that Jesus the Christ, the living Word, has been fully God from all eternity, that He was the very Agent of creation, that He is the source of life itself. Who could this Jesus be, but the one true and sovereign God and our own Lord and Savior?
Oh boy, well take a break. I'm working on the next section. Jesus has a lot to say about who He is!
If you haven't read the text, just pull out your Bible, and take a look at it. The depths here are incredible! Let's think about some titles here: "If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord..." Lord is 'kurios' in Koine (Common) Greek, the language of the N.T. It was used widely of any master, someone who owned slaves and exercised sovereign power over his possessions. It was also used of Rabbi's by their disciples. It was very consistently used by people Jesus encountered on earth when they addressed Him. This word 'kurios' is specifically intended to define the relationship, and it is that of a disciple to his teacher, and a slave to his master. Paul clearly sets forth here what Christ taught throughout His ministry, and remember that "Lord" is a title, so it gets the article (the Lord). When I pray or discuss Him with others, I almost always refer to Him as 'the Lord'. The Jews most sacred name and the Hebrew equivalent of 'kurios' is 'Yahweh', technically spelled 'Yhwh'. The Jew wouldn't even speak this name or write it out fully, believing God's name to be absolutely and unspeakably holy!
These titles tell us something very important. When we think about Jesus the Christ, specifically included in our thinking must be an essential understanding of the nature of this 2nd Person of the Triune God. Jesus is Lord/Yahweh/Master. You cannot truly understand who Jesus is unless You see Him as the divine, all-powerful, perfect Master of your own life and all of creation. The N.T. is explicitly clear in laying out Jesus the Christ as having total authority and power over all things. We see this in:
Ephesians 1:18-23 "I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might, which He brought about in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in this one to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fulness of Him who fills all in all."
Phil. 2:9-11 "God highly exalted Him, and bestowed upon Him the name which is above every name..."
Col. 1;15-23 and 2:8-15 (read them)
You do not know and serve the true Christ unless you believe in and submit to Him as Lord and Saviour. It really isn't an option, as a Christian, to decide when you want to 'make Him Lord of your life'. If He isn't Lord of your life, then you aren't a Christian. Doesn't Paul say this exactly? "If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved." Confession is to do what; to speak the truth, to homo(same) logeo(say), to same-say, to agree with God.
So we can understand that Paul is building his whole point on the reality that God has spoken about His Son, and God has made it clear that His Son is Lord of all, and is to be honored as such. So for us to be saved, we must say the same; we must openly confess the truth.
"For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” (Mark 8:38)
The point that God has spoken concerning His Son can be powerfully established from the rest of Scripture (remember that the best way to correctly interpret Scripture is by reading other Scripture) I already gave you a few. We can also look at Luke 3:21-22, at Jesus' baptism, where God the Father clearly establishes Jesus as being "My Son", making Him equal with God. We can also go to the visions of Daniel where again and again, Christ is pictured as the conquering King, the one who comes to render judgment. We can examine the incredible Christology of the great book of Hebrews, where we see the absolute Lordship and Kingly priesthood of our Savior. We can also look at the Gospel account of the Transfiguration of Jesus Christ, when the veil of flesh was pulled back and Peter, James, and John saw the burning white light of his Holy divinity (still somewhat reduced) come flying out of His face and body. In that moment, there were no words, no false submission, no pretense, no acting as if Jesus weren't Lord of all.
We can read and understand John 1 and see that Jesus the Christ, the living Word, has been fully God from all eternity, that He was the very Agent of creation, that He is the source of life itself. Who could this Jesus be, but the one true and sovereign God and our own Lord and Savior?
Oh boy, well take a break. I'm working on the next section. Jesus has a lot to say about who He is!
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Lordship Salvation: What is salvation? Part I
Lordship Salvation
I feel led to address a current topic in Christian circles. It is the apparent controversy over what is required for a person to be “saved”, to possess eternal life. The traditional theological position in fundamental evangelical circles has been that Christ is both Lord and Saviour to the genuine Christian. But in recent times, another view has gained popularity, and indeed, it now seems to dominate most of the evangelical Christianity that we see in the media, read in Christian bookstores, and hear on Christian radio. This view is difficult to truly define, but the main idea is that a person can accept the gift of salvation; they can ‘receive Jesus’ as Saviour and be forgiven of their sins without necessarily making Him Lord of their life, and in many cases without demonstrating any change of life at all. The general consensus in this view is that eventually Christians will reach a point where they are ready/able to submit to His Lordship. In effect, there are two levels of Christianity: the saved but uncommitted, and then the saved and fully committed Christians.
It seems logical to me that the best way to resolve the matter is search God’s Word and define salvation itself. In so doing, we should come to a conclusion on this issue of Lordship Salvation versus what we will call “Easy Believism”. This is, I suppose, a good followup to the ‘Sin and Salvation’ series. I will spend some time in Romans 10, and then in the Gospel of John.
For us to reach an understanding of this critical matter, it must be accepted that the Bible as we know it, all 66 books, is the complete self-revelation of God to man, and that the autographa (original text) is inerrant and inspired by God. The translations we have today are reliable and though occasionally contain minor grammatical/spelling errors, God has powerfully preserved His Word through the translation work all over the world. If you doubt this, please spend the time necessary and get the resources you need to understand why we can absolutely submit to the Word of God. I can point you in the right direction and answer questions you may have.
There are so many texts of Scripture we could dig into. We will get our minds in gear by reading Romans 10:1-21. So get your Bible and read it, twice if you have time...
Ok, quite a chunk, with enough truth to occupy our study for years. But a few things must be brought out to set us on the right track. Then we will look at the direct teaching of Christ in the Gospels.
This passage must be taken in context. Verse 10 speaks of the confession of Jesus as Lord, or confessing the Lord Jesus, and believing in the heart that God raised Jesus from the dead. This verse is the one most often used by those in support of Lordship Salvation to show what is required for salvation. However, when you read Romans and come to chapters 9,10, and 11, it is very clear that Paul is specifically addressing the unbelief, rejection, and restoration of the Jews. The nation had officially rejected Jesus Christ as the promised Messiah. Paul witnessed that the Jews had a zeal for God, but it was not based in truth. (Rom. 10:2) Then verse 3 tells us that the Jews did not know or understand the righteousness of God, and so they believed that through the Law, they could establish their own righteousness, that their observance of the moral and ceremonial law granted them national favor in the eyes of God. But, it was Moses who wrote (vs. 5) that the one who lives by the Law is held to that perfect standard of absolute legal righteousness. In other words, it only takes one violation of the Law, no matter how small, to violate the entire Law and render the lawbreaker guilty and worthy of destruction. But, (vs.6) the righteousness which is by faith does not try to create its own standard and it does not substitute man’s attempt at righteous living for God’s actual righteousness, personified in Christ who is the Living Word.
Instead, the true righteousness of Christ is very near to us. We don’t have to ascend to heaven to get it, or go down into the grave. Christ has descended, Christ has died, Christ has risen, and purchased for us a redemption with His innocent blood. “The Word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”-that is the word of faith which we are preaching...” (vs.8)
It should be noted here that in the context of Paul’s dealings with his own people, the Jews, we can be sure that this word of faith would bring instant persecution if a Jew believed and openly confessed Jesus Christ as Lord. A Jew who converted and confessed it showed powerful evidence of genuine salvation by that confession. (vs.9)...that “if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.”
(vs.10) Paul explains the human response to the word of faith: “For with the heart man believes...” It is the deep, inner part of man which must believe, the essential part of his nature, the thing which must be remade; it must die, be buried, and a new nature be raised with Christ; this inner person must believe. The next question is: believe what? -answer: that God raised Him from the dead, and all which is inherent in that statement, which is: that Jesus Christ is the eternally begotten Son of God, that He was sent forth from the Father, He was born of woman, conceived of the Holy Spirit; that in Him "all the fullness of the Deity dwells in bodily form," (Col. 2:9) that He obeyed the Father in living a sinless human life, that He "humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." (Phil 2:8); that He was buried, that He rose the third day according to the Scriptures (1 Cor. 15:4); that God exalted Him and "seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion..." (Eph. 1:20)
Believing this is what results in 'righteousness', the gift of grace we receive from God upon the change of our nature, which is completely His work (Eph. 2:1-10). This new nature is the actual righteousness of Jesus Christ, the Righteous One (1 John 2:1), imputed or transferred to our account.
Then (v.10), with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. What does he confess? (vs.9) He confesses Jesus as Lord. And this prompts the question: Is it really enough to simply believe all of the facts about Jesus? Why does Paul include confession? (Confession=saying the same thing; so confessing Jesus as Lord means to agree with God that His Son is Lord. This is an acknowledgment of an established truth.)
What makes a Christian a Christian? He/she is a follower of Christ, a little Christ. They recognize the supremacy, the Lordship of Christ. There have always been believers, even people that follow along for a while, say the right words, experience emotional connections to Christ based on experiences. In fact, there are many believers, but those who continue to follow are few; those who give all in the recognition that everything we have should be counted as loss in "view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord." (Phil. 3:8) Jesus' conversation with the rich young ruler immediately comes to mind. This young man was a believer. He had kept the Law, according to His own account. He even came to Jesus and asked the right question: "what must i do to be saved?" This was the perfect open door, right? Jesus saw his heart right away, though, and pinpoints the thing the man was not willing to give up, his wealth. The young man saw himself as having many things of value. He saw himself as righteous and blessed, and he wanted to add eternal life to his list of accomplishments. He had not yet come to the place of understanding that knowing Christ was the only thing of value, and when Jesus told him to sell all he had and give the money to the poor, he walked away in grief, not seeing his possessions as rubbish in comparison to the glorious treasure of knowing Christ as his Lord. Also, his grief wasn't a mourning over his sin. It was self-pity.
The epistle of James brings out this crucial point regarding true, saving faith. Look at ch.2:14-26 "What use is it, my brethren, if man says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him...even so, faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself...You believe that there is one God. You do well. the demons also believe and shudder."
Side note: Faith and belief are synonyms.
So, apparently, the demons have a type of faith, but it is not saving faith. They know theology and accept it as truth. They fear judgment and do not want to be punished (remember Legion not wanting to be banished and asking to be sent into the pigs). They know exactly who Jesus is (the Gospels are full of accounts of Jesus approaching a demon-possessed person and the demon crying out that He was the Son of God) and believe every word He has said, but they will NEVER say to Him, "You are my Lord." They may even want to be saved from judgment, but they do not submit. There is sorrow, but not a godly sorrow leading to repentance. (2. Cor. 7:10)
We, too, can have a sorrow, a knowledge of the truth, a faith in all the facts about God, but the thing that saves is to "confess with your mouth, Jesus as Lord..." A belief which never shows itself in actions is not a saving faith; in other words, faith without works is not saving faith.
So, here in Romans 10:10, we see the work which evidences saving faith; this is the confession of Jesus as Lord. THINK: would it not be logical to state that if you will not submit to the Lordship of Christ openly, then you are not His disciple? The very claim, "I am a Christian" implies that you follow Christ, that you have counted the cost, not just that you are saved from hell. We are not just saved from eternal punishment; we are saved TO something. Also, along with this point, we need to understand that man does not possess FREE will, as we assume he does. His will is never free in the sense of "I can choose to do whatever I want to do". Scripture is consistently clear that mankind is either a slave to sin or a slave to Christ. There is no time or sense in which we are 'free agents', capable of making our own destiny. We either serve the prince of the power of this world, or we serve the true King. Christian liberty is fulfilled when a person is set free from the enslavement of sin, to finally have the law of God written on their heart. When this happens, a Christian is finally free to obey God, to do that which he was made to do.
Ok, let's back up a second. I gave you the beginning context of Jewish unbelief and self-styled righteousness, and we saw that verses 9 and 10 can directly apply to the Jews in that, open confession of Christ was strong evidence of genuine faith because of the fierce persecution that would accompany such a confession. And it is true that we are in a context of Paul dealing with the status of the Jewish nation.
However, it should be observed that our larger context is the whole book of Romans. It is most likely the greatest treatise on salvation in the entire New Testament, and when Paul speaks of the Jews, he is placing them in their part of the larger story of redemption. He is talking about them, not only to them. And remember, the recipients of the letter were in Rome. It was a mixed congregation, but most likely would have had a predominately Gentile makeup.
Also, the preface to Paul's statement in vs.9 is vs.8: "the Word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart-that is, the word of faith which we are preaching." This is a quote from Deut. 30:14 and it stands in sharp contrast to the legal system the Jews had constructed around the Mosaic Law. Then we have a qualifying statement: "the word of faith which we are preaching..." This must include the Gentiles, since Paul is widely understood to be the Apostle to the Gentiles, and he made it absolutely clear in Eph. 3:1-10 that the Gentiles are fellow heirs of the Gospel, which is the word of faith!
Essentially, we are faced with a passage which includes the Jews but is not specific to them. This is made even clearer in the following verses. Vs.11, "Whoever believes in Him..." Whoever is definitely not only referring to the Jews. And then Vs.12 clinches it, "...there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call upon Him."
So, we have a clear statement from the Apostle Paul, who received the Gospel message directly from God by revelation (Galatians 1:11-17), laying out the facts of saving faith.
1. A genuine heart belief in everything involved in Christ and His redemptive work.
2. Evidence of submission to Christ's authority, His Lordship
Saving faith is faith and confession, or faith and works.
Now, we haven't yet dealt with the authorship of our great salvation. In spending time with God's Word, the doctrine of election has made itself strikingly clear. (Romans 8:26-30, Romans 9:6-33, 1 Cor. 1:4-9, John 3:1-8, Ephesians 1-2, John 17:1,2) All prideful objections to it are silenced, and I am thankful, thankful that I was in God's mind to be redeemed before the foundation of the world, thankful that the Lord defines what is just by His nature and that my standard of fairness isn't applied to the world. I won't dwell on this, but it is crucial to understand who Jesus Christ is from the beginning to the end. He is the Author and Perfecter of faith, and your faith and mine are given to us. The Father has purposed to redeem a body of people to give to the Son. Jesus isn't some whimsical, hopeful Savior, wishing we would accept Him as He stands gently knocking on the door of our hearts.
A submission to His Lordship is necessary for salvation because it shows that you have come to know, believe, and follow the real Jesus. To say that you are a self-seeking Christian, an uncommitted follower of Christ is a contradiction. The nature of salvation itself demands that Christ be glorified as Lord. It is not our place to try to define Christ. The Father has authoritatively defined His Son and if your heart is awakened to spiritual realities, then seek to know the Son, that in submission to Him, you would find freedom from sin, rest for your soul, and assurance that you have eternal life.
I feel led to address a current topic in Christian circles. It is the apparent controversy over what is required for a person to be “saved”, to possess eternal life. The traditional theological position in fundamental evangelical circles has been that Christ is both Lord and Saviour to the genuine Christian. But in recent times, another view has gained popularity, and indeed, it now seems to dominate most of the evangelical Christianity that we see in the media, read in Christian bookstores, and hear on Christian radio. This view is difficult to truly define, but the main idea is that a person can accept the gift of salvation; they can ‘receive Jesus’ as Saviour and be forgiven of their sins without necessarily making Him Lord of their life, and in many cases without demonstrating any change of life at all. The general consensus in this view is that eventually Christians will reach a point where they are ready/able to submit to His Lordship. In effect, there are two levels of Christianity: the saved but uncommitted, and then the saved and fully committed Christians.
It seems logical to me that the best way to resolve the matter is search God’s Word and define salvation itself. In so doing, we should come to a conclusion on this issue of Lordship Salvation versus what we will call “Easy Believism”. This is, I suppose, a good followup to the ‘Sin and Salvation’ series. I will spend some time in Romans 10, and then in the Gospel of John.
For us to reach an understanding of this critical matter, it must be accepted that the Bible as we know it, all 66 books, is the complete self-revelation of God to man, and that the autographa (original text) is inerrant and inspired by God. The translations we have today are reliable and though occasionally contain minor grammatical/spelling errors, God has powerfully preserved His Word through the translation work all over the world. If you doubt this, please spend the time necessary and get the resources you need to understand why we can absolutely submit to the Word of God. I can point you in the right direction and answer questions you may have.
There are so many texts of Scripture we could dig into. We will get our minds in gear by reading Romans 10:1-21. So get your Bible and read it, twice if you have time...
Ok, quite a chunk, with enough truth to occupy our study for years. But a few things must be brought out to set us on the right track. Then we will look at the direct teaching of Christ in the Gospels.
This passage must be taken in context. Verse 10 speaks of the confession of Jesus as Lord, or confessing the Lord Jesus, and believing in the heart that God raised Jesus from the dead. This verse is the one most often used by those in support of Lordship Salvation to show what is required for salvation. However, when you read Romans and come to chapters 9,10, and 11, it is very clear that Paul is specifically addressing the unbelief, rejection, and restoration of the Jews. The nation had officially rejected Jesus Christ as the promised Messiah. Paul witnessed that the Jews had a zeal for God, but it was not based in truth. (Rom. 10:2) Then verse 3 tells us that the Jews did not know or understand the righteousness of God, and so they believed that through the Law, they could establish their own righteousness, that their observance of the moral and ceremonial law granted them national favor in the eyes of God. But, it was Moses who wrote (vs. 5) that the one who lives by the Law is held to that perfect standard of absolute legal righteousness. In other words, it only takes one violation of the Law, no matter how small, to violate the entire Law and render the lawbreaker guilty and worthy of destruction. But, (vs.6) the righteousness which is by faith does not try to create its own standard and it does not substitute man’s attempt at righteous living for God’s actual righteousness, personified in Christ who is the Living Word.
Instead, the true righteousness of Christ is very near to us. We don’t have to ascend to heaven to get it, or go down into the grave. Christ has descended, Christ has died, Christ has risen, and purchased for us a redemption with His innocent blood. “The Word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”-that is the word of faith which we are preaching...” (vs.8)
It should be noted here that in the context of Paul’s dealings with his own people, the Jews, we can be sure that this word of faith would bring instant persecution if a Jew believed and openly confessed Jesus Christ as Lord. A Jew who converted and confessed it showed powerful evidence of genuine salvation by that confession. (vs.9)...that “if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.”
(vs.10) Paul explains the human response to the word of faith: “For with the heart man believes...” It is the deep, inner part of man which must believe, the essential part of his nature, the thing which must be remade; it must die, be buried, and a new nature be raised with Christ; this inner person must believe. The next question is: believe what? -answer: that God raised Him from the dead, and all which is inherent in that statement, which is: that Jesus Christ is the eternally begotten Son of God, that He was sent forth from the Father, He was born of woman, conceived of the Holy Spirit; that in Him "all the fullness of the Deity dwells in bodily form," (Col. 2:9) that He obeyed the Father in living a sinless human life, that He "humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." (Phil 2:8); that He was buried, that He rose the third day according to the Scriptures (1 Cor. 15:4); that God exalted Him and "seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion..." (Eph. 1:20)
Believing this is what results in 'righteousness', the gift of grace we receive from God upon the change of our nature, which is completely His work (Eph. 2:1-10). This new nature is the actual righteousness of Jesus Christ, the Righteous One (1 John 2:1), imputed or transferred to our account.
Then (v.10), with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. What does he confess? (vs.9) He confesses Jesus as Lord. And this prompts the question: Is it really enough to simply believe all of the facts about Jesus? Why does Paul include confession? (Confession=saying the same thing; so confessing Jesus as Lord means to agree with God that His Son is Lord. This is an acknowledgment of an established truth.)
What makes a Christian a Christian? He/she is a follower of Christ, a little Christ. They recognize the supremacy, the Lordship of Christ. There have always been believers, even people that follow along for a while, say the right words, experience emotional connections to Christ based on experiences. In fact, there are many believers, but those who continue to follow are few; those who give all in the recognition that everything we have should be counted as loss in "view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord." (Phil. 3:8) Jesus' conversation with the rich young ruler immediately comes to mind. This young man was a believer. He had kept the Law, according to His own account. He even came to Jesus and asked the right question: "what must i do to be saved?" This was the perfect open door, right? Jesus saw his heart right away, though, and pinpoints the thing the man was not willing to give up, his wealth. The young man saw himself as having many things of value. He saw himself as righteous and blessed, and he wanted to add eternal life to his list of accomplishments. He had not yet come to the place of understanding that knowing Christ was the only thing of value, and when Jesus told him to sell all he had and give the money to the poor, he walked away in grief, not seeing his possessions as rubbish in comparison to the glorious treasure of knowing Christ as his Lord. Also, his grief wasn't a mourning over his sin. It was self-pity.
The epistle of James brings out this crucial point regarding true, saving faith. Look at ch.2:14-26 "What use is it, my brethren, if man says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him...even so, faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself...You believe that there is one God. You do well. the demons also believe and shudder."
Side note: Faith and belief are synonyms.
So, apparently, the demons have a type of faith, but it is not saving faith. They know theology and accept it as truth. They fear judgment and do not want to be punished (remember Legion not wanting to be banished and asking to be sent into the pigs). They know exactly who Jesus is (the Gospels are full of accounts of Jesus approaching a demon-possessed person and the demon crying out that He was the Son of God) and believe every word He has said, but they will NEVER say to Him, "You are my Lord." They may even want to be saved from judgment, but they do not submit. There is sorrow, but not a godly sorrow leading to repentance. (2. Cor. 7:10)
We, too, can have a sorrow, a knowledge of the truth, a faith in all the facts about God, but the thing that saves is to "confess with your mouth, Jesus as Lord..." A belief which never shows itself in actions is not a saving faith; in other words, faith without works is not saving faith.
So, here in Romans 10:10, we see the work which evidences saving faith; this is the confession of Jesus as Lord. THINK: would it not be logical to state that if you will not submit to the Lordship of Christ openly, then you are not His disciple? The very claim, "I am a Christian" implies that you follow Christ, that you have counted the cost, not just that you are saved from hell. We are not just saved from eternal punishment; we are saved TO something. Also, along with this point, we need to understand that man does not possess FREE will, as we assume he does. His will is never free in the sense of "I can choose to do whatever I want to do". Scripture is consistently clear that mankind is either a slave to sin or a slave to Christ. There is no time or sense in which we are 'free agents', capable of making our own destiny. We either serve the prince of the power of this world, or we serve the true King. Christian liberty is fulfilled when a person is set free from the enslavement of sin, to finally have the law of God written on their heart. When this happens, a Christian is finally free to obey God, to do that which he was made to do.
Ok, let's back up a second. I gave you the beginning context of Jewish unbelief and self-styled righteousness, and we saw that verses 9 and 10 can directly apply to the Jews in that, open confession of Christ was strong evidence of genuine faith because of the fierce persecution that would accompany such a confession. And it is true that we are in a context of Paul dealing with the status of the Jewish nation.
However, it should be observed that our larger context is the whole book of Romans. It is most likely the greatest treatise on salvation in the entire New Testament, and when Paul speaks of the Jews, he is placing them in their part of the larger story of redemption. He is talking about them, not only to them. And remember, the recipients of the letter were in Rome. It was a mixed congregation, but most likely would have had a predominately Gentile makeup.
Also, the preface to Paul's statement in vs.9 is vs.8: "the Word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart-that is, the word of faith which we are preaching." This is a quote from Deut. 30:14 and it stands in sharp contrast to the legal system the Jews had constructed around the Mosaic Law. Then we have a qualifying statement: "the word of faith which we are preaching..." This must include the Gentiles, since Paul is widely understood to be the Apostle to the Gentiles, and he made it absolutely clear in Eph. 3:1-10 that the Gentiles are fellow heirs of the Gospel, which is the word of faith!
Essentially, we are faced with a passage which includes the Jews but is not specific to them. This is made even clearer in the following verses. Vs.11, "Whoever believes in Him..." Whoever is definitely not only referring to the Jews. And then Vs.12 clinches it, "...there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call upon Him."
So, we have a clear statement from the Apostle Paul, who received the Gospel message directly from God by revelation (Galatians 1:11-17), laying out the facts of saving faith.
1. A genuine heart belief in everything involved in Christ and His redemptive work.
2. Evidence of submission to Christ's authority, His Lordship
Saving faith is faith and confession, or faith and works.
Now, we haven't yet dealt with the authorship of our great salvation. In spending time with God's Word, the doctrine of election has made itself strikingly clear. (Romans 8:26-30, Romans 9:6-33, 1 Cor. 1:4-9, John 3:1-8, Ephesians 1-2, John 17:1,2) All prideful objections to it are silenced, and I am thankful, thankful that I was in God's mind to be redeemed before the foundation of the world, thankful that the Lord defines what is just by His nature and that my standard of fairness isn't applied to the world. I won't dwell on this, but it is crucial to understand who Jesus Christ is from the beginning to the end. He is the Author and Perfecter of faith, and your faith and mine are given to us. The Father has purposed to redeem a body of people to give to the Son. Jesus isn't some whimsical, hopeful Savior, wishing we would accept Him as He stands gently knocking on the door of our hearts.
A submission to His Lordship is necessary for salvation because it shows that you have come to know, believe, and follow the real Jesus. To say that you are a self-seeking Christian, an uncommitted follower of Christ is a contradiction. The nature of salvation itself demands that Christ be glorified as Lord. It is not our place to try to define Christ. The Father has authoritatively defined His Son and if your heart is awakened to spiritual realities, then seek to know the Son, that in submission to Him, you would find freedom from sin, rest for your soul, and assurance that you have eternal life.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
It's been a while
I know it's been a while since I've posted. I'm working on a huge topic and it's consuming me. It's going to be intense and the things I'm studying are very necessary to understand as a Christian. It will be up soon. God bless you all, and I pray that you are remaining in the truth and seeking to please the Lord.
Friday, April 29, 2011
This post is too long
Sometimes, I think that if we were able to take every single experience we have and compact them all into 10-30 second, bite-sized pieces, we would do it and feel a sense of accomplishment. Who has the attention-span, or even the desire to spend an extended amount of time doing anything?
Even our entertainment comes in flashes, and artists have to make everything compact and quick for fear of losing their audience. We can't even "not think" for a very long time before we become bored. This may not be the worst thing happening in our society, but it certainly cannot be a very good thing, can it?
Is it really that we don't 'have the time'? Or is it our understanding of the value of our activities that is lacking? It goes beyond a simple improvement in time-management to the truth about what value the things we are engaged in actually possess. If you have time, or if you want to take the time...Are you forced to be too busy, or do you make yourself too busy? If I'm honest with myself, I confess that I make myself too busy. And how many of the things I do are in my schedule for selfish reasons? Do they build me up, or do they build others and God up?
I don't want to make you feel bad if you struggle with ADD, or ADHD. I have spent blood, sweat, and tears (literally) in working with kids who cannot even look at me for more than a fraction of a second, or focus on a task for more than a minute or so. I have struggled with my own inadequacies in focus and discipline. Sometimes, we just have a full day, with work, kids, bills, emergencies, messes, the list goes on and on and on... I know life is demanding and difficult, but there are times in our lives when there is time: a few minutes, maybe even an hour or two, and I wonder if we took all of the time we do have to focus on one thing, instead of 10 little things.
All of this is intricately connected to how we come to know and understand our God. Our heavenly Father is big; no, I mean, REALLY BIG. His Words, His ways, His thoughts, His power, His existence; these things defy our minds to grasp them. We never actually will fully understand Him, even with an infinity to try, but I think we miss out even on shallow things of God in this life because we simply do not choose to make time to learn, to think, to meditate. We take life in little bitty pieces, and our Christian book stores are drowning in devotionals, and we think we can connect with almighty God in a 2-minute verse with 2 paragraphs of 'explanation'? Don't get me wrong; I know that God is mindful of the fact that we are confined to time and He isn't. He made us; He knows our limitations.
I'm not saying I've got this all figured out: just the opposite! I need to start to figure it out, and I think we could all at least start thinking about the value of our activities in light of eternity, and taking into consideration 'who' the activity is focused around.
Well, I've gone and rambled, and this post is probably too long. But I hope it gets the brain pistons firing!
Even our entertainment comes in flashes, and artists have to make everything compact and quick for fear of losing their audience. We can't even "not think" for a very long time before we become bored. This may not be the worst thing happening in our society, but it certainly cannot be a very good thing, can it?
Is it really that we don't 'have the time'? Or is it our understanding of the value of our activities that is lacking? It goes beyond a simple improvement in time-management to the truth about what value the things we are engaged in actually possess. If you have time, or if you want to take the time...Are you forced to be too busy, or do you make yourself too busy? If I'm honest with myself, I confess that I make myself too busy. And how many of the things I do are in my schedule for selfish reasons? Do they build me up, or do they build others and God up?
I don't want to make you feel bad if you struggle with ADD, or ADHD. I have spent blood, sweat, and tears (literally) in working with kids who cannot even look at me for more than a fraction of a second, or focus on a task for more than a minute or so. I have struggled with my own inadequacies in focus and discipline. Sometimes, we just have a full day, with work, kids, bills, emergencies, messes, the list goes on and on and on... I know life is demanding and difficult, but there are times in our lives when there is time: a few minutes, maybe even an hour or two, and I wonder if we took all of the time we do have to focus on one thing, instead of 10 little things.
All of this is intricately connected to how we come to know and understand our God. Our heavenly Father is big; no, I mean, REALLY BIG. His Words, His ways, His thoughts, His power, His existence; these things defy our minds to grasp them. We never actually will fully understand Him, even with an infinity to try, but I think we miss out even on shallow things of God in this life because we simply do not choose to make time to learn, to think, to meditate. We take life in little bitty pieces, and our Christian book stores are drowning in devotionals, and we think we can connect with almighty God in a 2-minute verse with 2 paragraphs of 'explanation'? Don't get me wrong; I know that God is mindful of the fact that we are confined to time and He isn't. He made us; He knows our limitations.
I'm not saying I've got this all figured out: just the opposite! I need to start to figure it out, and I think we could all at least start thinking about the value of our activities in light of eternity, and taking into consideration 'who' the activity is focused around.
Well, I've gone and rambled, and this post is probably too long. But I hope it gets the brain pistons firing!
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Reflections on the nature of Christianity...
Just a few quick thoughts. I need to go to sleep. 2 longs days back to back isn't good for my health! Well, I have just been challenged today, thinking about all the things that make up the nature and existence of the thing that is Christianity. It's interesting how our minds tend to develop and categorize our experiences by the things we perceive, and when someone says the word, "home", a particular image and/or taste or smell comes flooding into our minds. Likewise, when someone says the word, "Christianity", something comes into the front of our mind, and our ability to think about the realities behind the entity is severely hampered by this picture/experience we have, these memories and cliches that crowd our view.
So, what is Christianity. Who is the 'Man behind the curtain..."? Is it all show, lights and smoke and hidden microphones? Is our sacred text, the Bible, just another book? We who call ourselves, 'little Christs', what does that mean to us?
I have been plagued all of my life by a search for what I call, 'the real'. It nags at the corners and backs and sides of my consciousness, always alerting me, "this isn't real, these thoughts you're having; you are missing the whole point...think deeper...dig more. THINK!" The shadow-lands in which we live, the dim veil we call the universe: it grates against my new nature like fingernails on a chalkboard. I want to really see, to really be alive, to actually understand...oh, just EVERYTHING!
WHO IS CHRIST? Is He the 20 minutes I "should have spent reading the Bible?" Is He the "weekend camp I went to and had a great experience there?" Is He the "Romans road?" Who is He? What has He done, and where is He now? And what in the world is He talking about in the 4 Gospels? He is certifiable if He wasn't telling the absolute truth!
I have to deal with Jesus the Christ, the firstborn from among the dead, the Voice who spoke you and I and the Milky Way galaxy. He has said quite a bit, and told us a little of it, more than we can handle, really.
Do you live, knowing that you haven't yet begun to actually be truly alive? I feel that fact every moment, and the ache of not knowing Christ as I am fully known sometimes threatens to crush me. Yet that pain is a stepping stone. It doesn't lay me low; it pushes the crook of my knees just past the point where they can keep me standing and makes me bow; the pain rouses me from my slumber and says, "Awake, o sleeper, your redemption draweth near!" And I leap and look to the clouds and say, 'Maranatha! Come quickly, Lord Jesus!'
Do you look forward to His appearing? Or do you dread it? Does the thought of bowing your knee to Him gladden or harden your heart?
Seek Him while He may yet be found! He came in a food trough. He touched lepers and ate with tax collectors; this is the One who healed on the Sabbath, whipped the temple corrupters, the One who came to divide; He is the One who told the seas to shut up with hardly a word. (He spoke the waters into existence; of course they would listen to Him. They have more sense than we do.)
Do you know Christ and the One who sent Him? I hope you do, because Jesus said that this is eternal life, "That they may know You, and Jesus whom You have sent..." That's it; that you know Him. So doesn't it make sense to throw our whole beings into knowing Him? Don't you want to know the REAL Him. You can start right now. Cry out to Him, not with emotions, but with truth primarily. Speak truth to yourself from God's revealed Word. Listening to yourself usually leads to living in the flesh. But speaking God's truth to your heart (reading it, praying it, obeying it) brings it under the guidance of the Spirit.
So, what is Christianity. Who is the 'Man behind the curtain..."? Is it all show, lights and smoke and hidden microphones? Is our sacred text, the Bible, just another book? We who call ourselves, 'little Christs', what does that mean to us?
I have been plagued all of my life by a search for what I call, 'the real'. It nags at the corners and backs and sides of my consciousness, always alerting me, "this isn't real, these thoughts you're having; you are missing the whole point...think deeper...dig more. THINK!" The shadow-lands in which we live, the dim veil we call the universe: it grates against my new nature like fingernails on a chalkboard. I want to really see, to really be alive, to actually understand...oh, just EVERYTHING!
WHO IS CHRIST? Is He the 20 minutes I "should have spent reading the Bible?" Is He the "weekend camp I went to and had a great experience there?" Is He the "Romans road?" Who is He? What has He done, and where is He now? And what in the world is He talking about in the 4 Gospels? He is certifiable if He wasn't telling the absolute truth!
I have to deal with Jesus the Christ, the firstborn from among the dead, the Voice who spoke you and I and the Milky Way galaxy. He has said quite a bit, and told us a little of it, more than we can handle, really.
Do you live, knowing that you haven't yet begun to actually be truly alive? I feel that fact every moment, and the ache of not knowing Christ as I am fully known sometimes threatens to crush me. Yet that pain is a stepping stone. It doesn't lay me low; it pushes the crook of my knees just past the point where they can keep me standing and makes me bow; the pain rouses me from my slumber and says, "Awake, o sleeper, your redemption draweth near!" And I leap and look to the clouds and say, 'Maranatha! Come quickly, Lord Jesus!'
Do you look forward to His appearing? Or do you dread it? Does the thought of bowing your knee to Him gladden or harden your heart?
Seek Him while He may yet be found! He came in a food trough. He touched lepers and ate with tax collectors; this is the One who healed on the Sabbath, whipped the temple corrupters, the One who came to divide; He is the One who told the seas to shut up with hardly a word. (He spoke the waters into existence; of course they would listen to Him. They have more sense than we do.)
Do you know Christ and the One who sent Him? I hope you do, because Jesus said that this is eternal life, "That they may know You, and Jesus whom You have sent..." That's it; that you know Him. So doesn't it make sense to throw our whole beings into knowing Him? Don't you want to know the REAL Him. You can start right now. Cry out to Him, not with emotions, but with truth primarily. Speak truth to yourself from God's revealed Word. Listening to yourself usually leads to living in the flesh. But speaking God's truth to your heart (reading it, praying it, obeying it) brings it under the guidance of the Spirit.
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