Walking in Faith

Josh Harris shared a story from a book that I think is well worth discussing.  Josh quoted Bryan Chapell, in his book Holiness by Grace.  Bryan gives the account of a man that passed away and met the angel Gabriel at heaven’s gates.  The following is an excerpt from his book:

Said the angel to the man, “Here’s how this works. You need a hundred points to make it into heaven. You tell me all the good things that you have done, and I will give you a certain number of points for each of them. The more good there is in the work that you cite, the more points you will get for it. When you get to a hundred points, you get in.”

“Okay,” the man said, “I was married to the same woman for fifty years and never cheated on her, even in my heart.”

“That’s wonderful,” said Gabriel, “that’s worth three points.”

“Three points?” said the man incredulously. “Well, I attended church all my life and supported its ministry with my money and service.”

“Terrific!” said Gabriel, “that’s certainly worth a point.”

“One Point!” said the man with his eyes beginning to show a bit of panic. “Well, how about this: I opened a shelter for the homeless in my city, and fed needy people by the hundreds during the holidays.”

“Fantastic, That’s good for two more points,” said the angel.

“TWO POINTS!!” cried the man in desperation. “At this rate the only way that I will get into heaven is by the grace of God.”

“Come on in,” said Gabriel.

What a great reminder to us on the grace of God Almighty.  Some claiming to be Christians would argue that you have to earn your way into God’s heavenly kingdom.  The Bible makes it clear that this isn’t true.  The doctrine is referred to as sola fide.   Some references:

Acts 16:31 (ESV)
And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

Acts 26:16-18 (ESV)
¹⁶But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, ¹⁷delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles–to whom I am sending you ¹⁸to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

Romans 3:28 (ESV)
For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.

Romans 11:5-6 (ESV)
⁵So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. ⁶But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.

Jesus Christ’s blood on the cross was sufficient for the entire world’s atonement.  Our works are nothing more than fruits of the Spirit.  People get so hung up on their ability to do acts that are pleasing to the LORD.  Unfortunately, the Bible is clear on that point as well:

 ⁹What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, ¹⁰as it is written:

“None is righteous, no, not one;
¹¹no one understands;
  no one seeks for God.
¹²All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
  no one does good,
  not even one.”
¹³“Their throat is an open grave;
  they use their tongues to deceive.”
“The venom of asps is under their lips.”
 ¹⁴“Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
¹⁵“Their feet are swift to shed blood;
 ¹⁶in their paths are ruin and misery,
¹⁷and the way of peace they have not known.”
 ¹⁸“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

We can not do anything pleasing to the LORD, except through Christ and the Spirit.  God’s grace allows us to do marvelous things!  These fruits are a gift from God — they are not a requirement for salvation.  When we say that we have to work our way into heaven, we are limiting the power and awe of our Creator.  We are making salvation all about us and our ability to do, or not do, something.  Why?  Is it so hard to imagine that the Almighty Father is control of these sort of decisions?

People live their lives every day wondering about their salvation.  God’s Word makes it crystal clear to anyone who is searching for the truth.  Open your eyes!  Drink of the everlasting water!  God wants to have a relationship with you. 

All it requires is faith on your part — recognize that you are a sinner and cannot draw close to the LORD on your own but that God has a great purpose for you.  Believe in your heart that God sent Jesus to the earth as God made man.  Believe that Christ was crucified on the cross for the sins of the world.  Ask Christ to enter your live and have His death on the cross count for your sins.  Once you believe this in your heart and soul, reach out to the LORD and talk to Him about this.  He will be there for you.  He will hold you close and protect you.  Be assured that in heaven, the heavenly hosts are throwing a party in your name.  You have entered into the eternal family of our great Father God.

On October 31st, 1517, Martin Luther changed how we look at the Christian religion forever.  He challenged the viewpoints of that time with his 95 Theses.

From a modern day perspective, one could argue that the Emerging Church is trying to look at things from a similar perspective.  Of course, I might argue that the EC is more of a post-modern viewpoint than it is a Biblical approach (let’s not go down that road quite yet).  There aren’t a considerable amount of people out there challenging modern day church viewpoints.  Why?  Because there isn’t anything worth challenging or because it has already all been challenged?  My perspective is that God will reveal to us what He wants us to know in His time.  That means that God strategically placed Martin Luther in his position, place and time so that He could use him to change the world.  That’s not to say that we don’t need a modern day Martin Luther, but I am not sure that God has anything additional to reveal to us at this time. 

We could also look at someone like John Piper, John MacArthur, R.C. Sproul as modern day Martin’s.  I am not sure that they are changing the world as much as they are helping to shape those who walk with Christ.  The same could be said about Charles Spurgeon or Jonathan Edwards.  Regardless, today is a day where I need to be intentional about praising the Lord for raising up people like the above mentioned.  He has great and mighty works to do in this world and I look forward to doing my part to help win the race.

If you want more information, Challies captured quite a few posts regarding this topic.  HT: Challies

Canon is a term describing the collection of books called Scripture.

Whether the canon is closed or not is an argumentative point; however, for sake of argument, I hold to the view that the canon is currently closed. God has the ability to open that back up whenever He desires though. As is, the message of salvation has been captured and there is no need for further Scriptures to validate God or Christ’s message.

If you are interested in the Old Testament canonization notes, please refer to this link.

Development of the NT Canon

The Scripture was authored (Formation) between AD 40 and (roughly) AD 100. The NT Scripture was then recognized (Recognized) between AD 100 and AD 300. The Scripture was then declared (Declaration) between AD 300 and AD 400.

Formation Period (AD 40 – AD 100)

1. NT presents words of the apostles as being on par with that of God (2 Thes 2:15, 1 Cor 14:37, Gal 1:8-9, 1 Thes 2:13). Did the apostles know that they were writing Scripture? While they were speaking with the authority of the Lord, they most likely didn’t realize they were writing the letter assuming people would be reading the letter hundreds (even thousands) of years later.
2. NT attests to the acceptance of other NT books as Scripture (2 Peter 3:15-16, 1 Tim 5:18, Rev 1:3)Are there books that are more application to our situation today than other books? Certainly. Romans as compared to Philemon, as an example. The books still carry the same authority, but they do not have the same application in modern day society.

Recognition Period (AD 100 – AD 300)

1. Writings of early church fathers attest to the acceptance of many NT books
   • Quote them as Scripture
   • Draw a clear distinction between writings and that of Scripture
   • Marcion (c. 140), a Gnostic heretic, created his own canon — created a “different” view that was not accepted
   • Important because early church fathers were close to Christ (less important) and they were discipled by the apostles. They also set precedence (similar to a George Washington situation).
2. Origen (185-254 AD) writes commentaries on many of the NT books commenting on their inspiration.
3. Muratorian Canon (170 AD) attests to the canonization of all NT books except Hebrews, James, and 1 & 2 Peter.

Declaration Period (AD 300 – AD 400)

1. Diocletian persecutions (c. 302-305) — Christians were killed for possession of Scriptures
2. Eusibius (fourth century Church historian) speaks about condition of canon. Agreed upon books were Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Letters of Paul (including Hebrews), 1 Peter, 1 John and Revelation (Homologoumena). Mostly agreed upon books, but controversial to some were James, 2 Peter, 2 & 3 John and Jude (Antilogomena). Books that were not agreed upon where Acts of Paul, the Didache and the Shepherd of Hermas (Pseudepigrapha).
3. Athanasius (fourth century bishop of Alexandria) affirms the 27 books of NT (AD 367).
4. Council of Hippo (AD 393) and Council of Carthage (AD 397) both affirmed canon of NT.

Translation Theories

• Formal equivalence (word for word)
• Dynamic equivalence (thought for thought)
• Paraphrase

All translations are interpretations. The language does not translate word for word so every translation will have some level of interpretation (e.g. the “long nose” of the Lord instead of the anger of the Lord).

Study Bibles are closer to the original. The more literal translations, instead of the paraphrasing translations, are “better” for studying the Bible and memorizing Scripture. We should study (and memorize) the text closest to the original content.

A good site to read for more information can be found here.

John Samson provides an excellent summary on the the theological viewpoints on the condition of man. Before you think “Theology? Yuck! I don’t want to get into that.” Remember — if you have a belief, you have theology. The point of John’s post is to help people understand the various positions from a lay-person perspective.

Thanks John!

PS — yes, I fall squarely in the reformed (or Augustinian) viewpoint of man’s condition. John did a great job of referencing Scripture that makes that abundantly clear, in my mind.

Dr. John MacArthur recently posted an article on the Pulpit Magazine. The magazine started as an online publication to pastors who were members of the Shepherds’ Fellowship but has been opened up for generally viewing pleasure and interaction. I can tell you that this will be a frequently visited site for me. The article Dr. MacArthur posted on Sept 5 entitled What Does This Verse Mean “to Me”? hits home with me. The article speaks to the fact that we have become a “me” generation. We want everything to apply to our current situation and circumstances. Instead of looking for proactive advice, we run to God’s Word as a reactive measure. We look for the Bible to solve our woes and problems. We search out Scripture that will be applicable to our live in a way that benefits us personally. What we don’t do is is search out a true exegetical analysis of the text. Instead, we tend towards eisegesis.

I have a deep desire to learn more about theology and what the Bible teaches. I want to learn so that I can apply to my life, but I don’t want to read into the Scriptures what fits my situation. All too often, I hear people quote Scripture out of context (yes, this includes myself!) without regard to the true meaning of the Scripture. Where this becomes a huge challenge for me is that I am not well trained or knowledgeable as an exegete. I do feel like the Lord will reveal to me exactly what I need to do, but that doesn’t preclude the fact that I should view the exegetical analysis from other reliable sources.

My prayer would be that the Lord give me a heart to search for the true meaning of the Scriptures and not the meaning I desire. I want to know the Lord deeply and passionately. I want to live my life in a way pleasing to the Lord. I want to be used by the Lord for His purposes. That becomes very difficult when all I do is build a box around Him and limit Him to my finite understanding of a few key passages. Instead, I need to rely on the Lord to open my eyes, my heart and my soul to what He is telling everyone in the God-breathed Scriptures.

Thanks again, John, for your incredible wisdom and insight. It gave me reason to reflect on my own practices. I hope that my awareness will positively impact not only myself but those around me as I continue to study, learn and apply the Lord’s instructions.