Boxing Day

Boxing Day is a holiday in many countries that have been influenced by England. It is the day after Christmas, where one boxes up their leftovers to take to the poor. Rather than discussing the British Realm's holidays, this brief article is about another kind of boxing. There are theologies that box God in and put a ribbon on that box. That boxing comes in the form of redefining words of scripture. It often sounds to my ears like a boxing match that fights with scripture.

All systematic theologies aim for one thing: to understand God in a logical fashion. While that goal is noble, we should hold our theologies with an open hand willing to let God blow away the chaff in those theologies. God has revealed to us that the way he thinks and acts is higher than our understanding.

Isaiah 55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,so are my ways higher than your waysand my thoughts than your thoughts. ~ESV

Total depravity teaches that all aspects of humanity has been affected by the fall, including our own thinking. That means that our prized theologies may be incorrect, even when systematized by the bright lights of church history. With total depravity in mind, we must hold our theology lightly and be willing to be corrected.

If a change of word definitions in scripture is required to make verses "fit" the preferred theology, beware. Most often, the plain reading is preferred. "You" means the reader; "all" means all; "is" means is. Yes, context qualifies words; but not to the extent it changes the whole of scripture.

Our goal as believers is to have faith. Faith is a gift as scripture tells us. Jesus wants to find faith on the earth when He returns. Jesus also chastised the apostles for having little faith. How do those work out logically, I'm not sure. What I do know is that I can pray for more faith and that Father always gives His children good gifts.

Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy

Reformed theology teaches that we must observe the Sabbath. For some elaborate reason this commandment is singled out and believed that we can do no works on one day a week. There is no guarantee, though, that the things consumed on Sundays were not manufactured on another Sunday. Perhaps the processed food eaten during the week was worked on Sunday; what about the electricity used throughout one's house, that too could have been manufactured on the Sabbath. How about the paper plates you are using on the Sabbath (so the wife won't have to work by doing dishes, just throw them away), were they made on a non-Sabbath day? Who knows? The list of possibilities of the ways we might break Sabbath could be quite long, as you can see from the examples I have given.

From the Westminster Confession, Chapter 21, we read:

VIII. This Sabbath is to be kept holy unto the Lord when men, after a due preparing of their hearts, and ordering of their common affairs beforehand, do not only observe an holy rest all the day from their own works, words, and thoughts about their wordly employments and recreations, but also are taken up the whole time in the public and private exercises of His worship, and in the duties of necessity and mercy.

Matthew 12 tells us that Jesus worked on the Sabbath and upset the Pharisees. On the Sabbath Jesus and his disciples gathered grain to eat.

From Matthew 12, we read:

At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, "Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath." He said to them, "Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. And if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath." ~ESV

Jesus also healed the man with the withered hand on the Sabbath. Again, Matthew 12 describes what happened:

He went on from there and entered their synagogue. And a man was there with a withered hand. And they asked him, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"— so that they might accuse him. He said to them, "Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath." Then he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." And the man stretched it out, and it was restored, healthy like the other. But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him. ~ESV

Are we better than our Lord in keeping the Sabbath? No! It is not humanly possible to keep this commandment. No need to fool ourselves. Be honest with Father.

I know that I should listen to His word, hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it.

Goaded by God

My parents raised me in a Presbyterian Church. I loved being in church from a young age. I recall people in pews ahead of us turning to see that it was my mother attached to the lovely voice they heard singing hymns. There was a time that I wandered away from my mom into the sanctuary. It was a joy to be in that room alone. I recall when I was taught the doctrine of the Trinity. I puzzled and puzzled and tried to understand it. Walking down the breeze way with my Sunday School teacher, I asked her to explain it to me. Her response to me was very wise, "You don't need to understand it, you need to believe it." That brought me great peace as a youngster.

As an adult, I am still asking questions to understand God better. As a result of those questions this last year many of my beliefs have changed. I am starting this new series and labeling it "What I Believe". It won't be in any particular order; but I will attempt to lay out my beliefs.

Am I still a Calvinist? You will have to read the series to find out.

Jesus Died For Me

How does a person know that Jesus died for them? The answer is because scripture says so. Our salvation is assured on the works of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
God says when we trust in Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection, we are forgiven and saved.

John 1:29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

The world includes me; it also includes you.

The Joy of Jesus Alone

Today was a red letter day for me: I realized that the systematic theology that I thought was the key to scripture is gone. The joy and freedom that I feel is indescribable. To be stripped of idols is a heart wrenching process that results in the greatest joy of Jesus alone!

To know the Holy Trinity's overflowing love for me is uncontainable, none one can stop it; it flows to all of humanity. We see it in Jesus when on the cross he asks for forgiveness for "them". That forgiveness has been purchased; receive it and praise Him.

Cling closely to scripture. It reveals the Lord that purchased you and me, dear Reader.

But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.
~ Psalm 5

Grace

The term "grace" is used often by Christians. When asked to define grace, the hemming and hawing often begins. Let's look at the different definitions that are given to the biblical idea of grace.

A Roman Catholic will say grace is infused through the sacraments ex opere operato, which means "from the work done." The work that was done was Christ's death, burial, and resurrection. Roman Catholics believe the efficacy of God's grace is to be found in the sacraments. The sacraments are infused with God's grace, so upon receiving of the sacraments one has received God's Grace. Grace becomes an enabling force to live a more holy life.

A Wesleyan, or Arminian, believes grace is an innate object, a mysterious operating mechanism that provides power to choose salvation. This power is given without the preached Gospel, and without the sacraments. This infused grace is given by God to all people. Grace allows one to overcome sin.

A Calvinist believes grace is received upon the preached Word, without the Sacraments. This definition allows one to choose God. It is the I in the acronym TULIP. This is a secret working of the Holy Spirit. Grace gives power to have victory over sin.

All three of these views make man the one who chooses faith. All three of these see sin as a problem to be overcome by infusion of grace. In other words, to overcome sin, we need God's grace. Then faith becomes predominantly about our own moral improvement; and forgiveness of sin is tangential. Inward gazing becomes the focus of faith, and the rule by which to judge one another.

Grace is God's attitude toward us: God loving us while we were his enemy; dying for us on the cross.

Faith and Unfaith

As I was watching the film, The Gospel of John, I began to consider the lives of the apostles and how sanctification worked with them. I do not see in the gospel accounts where they were striving toward perfection; rather I see them striving toward faith or belief. They do not talk about becoming more holy, rather they are focused on Jesus. We can rest in the sanctification God will accomplish in us; and need not fret over our successes and failures.

Often from my own mind and mouth come thoughts and words of unfaith, or unbelief. Also from the mouths of believers around me. Dear Reader, beware of words of others that preach unbelief.

Examples of unbelief:

Gifts of the Spirit have ceased for today. Read 1 Corinthian 12; ponder your own salvation (which is a gift of the Spirit).

God does not love His creation. Read John 3:16-21 and remind yourself who God loves.

Christ's atonement for sin is only for some people; not all. Read John 1:28-30.

That we do, at times, speak unfaith to one another. Read Matthew 16:23.

We have many baptisms. Read Ephesians 4:4-6.

If you can think of other examples of unbelief within the Church, please list them in comments. I am sure there are many other examples that you have encountered in your own life.

Dear Reader, you must wrestle with what Scripture says and your own unbelief. We do have help, cry out for that help.