Does this follow?

Tags

Gospel, homosexuality, Scripture, sexuality, theology

I was reading an NPR article where the following two paragraphs can be read:

Chambers also believes that homosexual acts are a sin because the Bible calls for heterosexual marriage. He says gay Christians must either be celibate, or if they want to marry, it must be with someone of the opposite sex. But he says even if you are in a gay relationship, you can still be a good Christian.

“I believe that once someone knows Christ that they have an irrevocable relationship, that if someone has a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, that God’s bigger than removing something at the first sign of trouble,” Chambers says, referring to salvation.

Now, having “an irrevocable relationship” is NOT the same thing as being “in a gay relationship [while being] a good Christian,” as the article asserts. Maybe Chambers said this in the actual interview, but in terms of this NPR article, I’m not certain Chambers should be judged on a summary comment written by a (most-likely) non-theological writer.

Discontent

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contentment, experience, friendship, insecurity, loneliness, Martin Luther, relationships, repentance, sanctification, sexuality, temptation

"For I am content..." (Philippians 4:11)

Sometimes I fear how God will teach me this lesson.

Today, a friend expressed a desire to move on to the next phase of life and ministry, saying he was tired of being a student and couldn’t wait to be done. I was frustrated because seminary is where God has called us. Why would we want to hurry God’s work? I sure don’t. And when I tried to point that out, it wasn’t well received. Maybe I said something wrongly.

I was sitting at a coffee shop a few days ago and really struggled to keep my mind on my work. Will temptation always be this strong? I wondered. I was sitting at another coffee shop today and thought, Yeah…if today is any indication, it will be.

Hail, the Conquering Hero

Today’s Book of Common Prayer (BoCP) epistle reading is from Revelation 12:7-17.  In it, we learn of the fact that Satan is the accuser of those who are children of God by faith and that those children have conquered Satan by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony.

Growing up, I heard about this as being a reference to sharing my faith in addition to the fact that Christ saves.  But what is the substance of the confession of these saints?  Is their changed life the testimony by which they overcome Satan?

The three rules of biblical interpretation are, of course, CONTEXT, CONTEXT, and CONTEXT.  So, what do you think? What is the substance of the martyrs’ testimony?

Only the Law, Ma’am

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books, C. F. W. Walther, false teaching, Gospel, Law, preaching, Reformed Theology, Scripture, theology

In part 6 of my ongoing series on C. F. W. Walther’s  Law and Gospel: How to Read and Apply the Bible, I said:

…if the only teaching applied to people is the Law, then they despair, die and perish in their sin.  More on this in a future post…

Here is that future post.

This statement is one side of a coin.  Some people grow up, live and die under all-law preaching and never have this melt-down I’ve described, or better put, never realize that this is what’s ticking under their hood.

The other alternative is for a person to be crushed under the weight of the fact that they don’t love the Lord with all of who they are…and to not let themselves off the hook because they realize that they do not keep the law perfectly.

Obey! No exceptions! This is the demand of the Law.

Teaching people that “it takes more than faith to really please God” is, in reality, extremely cruel.  To those who are convinced of their own righteousness, it pushes them on in their odious good works.  Telling the ones who despair of their sin such a thing drives them further and further away from the Gospel…that Christ has obeyed perfectly in their place all that the law demands.

It Slices! It dices!

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books, C. F. W. Walther, Galatians, Gospel, Law, Paul, theology

Part 7 of a series discussing C. F. W. Walther’s important treatise Law and Gospel: How to Read and Apply the Bible.

The effects of the Gospel are entirely different in nature when compared to the Law.  The Law, as we’ve discussed, breathes threats and does not give us any means by which to fulfill those demands.

Could the people at your church wear this shirt and not be sued for false advertising?

The Gospel, as some of you will rightly point out, does demand faith.  ”Repent and believe the good news!” is indeed the way the Gospel is to be preached, for it is the very message the Lord Himself gave us to dispense.

The second component of this point, however, may have escaped the notice of some, so I’ll flesh it out here:  The Gospel gives the very faith it demands.  When we preach “Believe in Christ!”, God gives them faith through our preaching.  It’s not, of course, the physical sound of the spoken word which saves…it’s the content of the preaching.

The Gospel doesn’t condemn or rebuke those who hear it.  Rather, it takes all the terror, fear and anguish away from them, filling them with peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.  Think about the prodigal father:  he lavishes his riches on his wayward son.  In this same way, Christ has welcomed us, his wayward and hateful children, into His home where he eats with us and us with Him.

Furthermore, the Gospel never requires anything good from the person:  not a good heart, not an improvement in behavior, not piety…not even love.

Totally off the Rails

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experience, false teaching, Law, Scripture, theology

I follow a blog called “Fjords of Zion.” I’m reprinting the article here as well as my comment.  What do you think? Off the rails, or am I missing something good this guy is saying? You decide.

Sheep not of this fold

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Ephesians, Gospel, John, Scripture, theology

Yesterday, one of the folks I interact with on Twitter re-tweeted a statement that I found intriguing.

RT CrystalLewis Someday, we will realize that it’s more productive to serve God than to debate doctrinal positions about Him.

Knowing that the guy who RT’ed it meant people of any religion, period, but not knowing what Crystal meant, I asked her. She responded,