A little theological ranting.
Okay, so you know when you start talking about the importance of good works, the first reaction you get from other Christians is that "Good works are filthy rags, our righteousness cannot save us."
Actually there are two kinds of works in the Bible.
One are religious works. Just things we do to save ourselves, things we perform to earn merit. These are self-directed, pious works meant to earn God's favour. It's obvious that Jesus already threw those out of the window, so to speak. We don't need to earn salvation.
But NOWHERE, absolutely nowhere in the Bible does Jesus condemn or tell us NOT to do good works ie. help others, be kind, be loving, etc. etc. No where.
what DOES the Bible say?
Faith without works is dead (James). Also, pure religion means visiting widows and orphans (a.k.a. people in need).
We are supposed to be lights in the world, which means doing works before others so that God is glorified.
Time and time again, in Romans 2:6 and Matthew 16:27 amongst other places, God/Jesus is said to judge every man according to their WORKS. (Oy, you might say, isn't it all about faith now?)
There is a difference between working for salvation and doing good works. A huge difference.
BTW, Jesus separates the righteous and the unrighteous in Matthew 7 and Matthew 24. What does he say?
1) In Matthew 7, he accuses those of performing "powerful" works of being unrighteous workers of INIQUITY
2) He accuses those who neglected to do simple things like feed the hungry, visit the imprisoned and give water to the thirsty... According to Jesus, the things that you do for the least of men, you do it to Him.
So if anyone tells you that doing good has nothing to do with faith, the the Bible says your faith is useless, to put it bluntly. "Good works" are not "works of the law" or "righteous works".
There verses are amongst many, but serve to hammer home to the point. Basically, they reiterate that we are created FOR good works, that we must be ZEALOUS to do them, and careful to maintain them.
Ephesians 2:10
1 Timothy 2:10
1 Timothy 5:25
1 Timothy 6:18
2 Timothy 3:17
Titus 2:7
Titus 3:14
Titus 3:8
There are conditions/qualified to good works
1) Must be according to the commandments of Jesus and the will of the Father
2) Must be done secretly and humbly without the intention of seeking praise from other people or earthly rewards.
3) Genuine and sincere
4) Not things that we force others to do but fail to do ourselves
Time and time again in the NT, we see God noticing people who are kind, loving and charitable. These are virtues that come from God and are demonstrated by God. People like Dorcas and Cornelius were noticed and praised for their charitable works.
No. Good works are imperative upon us. They are required of us. We are follow God's model, the ultimate finished work of Jesus on the cross. Why? Because in that he poured everything of himself. It was the ultimate act of love. It was the ultimate sacrifice. It was the ultimate unselfish, charitable act.
Jesus is our role model, the cross our example. Go forth, He says, and be LIGHTS.
Monday, October 27, 2014
Saturday, October 18, 2014
Christian, Christian
(Disclaimer: I don't have all the answers, but I believe that God does, if only we would actually listen to him and be willing to accept the answer even if it is what we do not want to hear.)
Christians either try to blend seamlessly into society, willing to put aside principles of the Bible and sacrifice them in order to be relevant (assimilation) OR try to create a segregated counter-culture based on some past romantic ideal of “Christian government” (isolation, utopian ideals) or “Christian society” (Dominion-ism, fundamentalism, etc.) Both assimilation and isolation are evasions of the question, “How can I be a Christian in the world I live in today?”. Some try to live in the world as the world, and simply be a part of it, worldly in all ideals and unwilling to be different. They simply accept society and culture. Others, fundamentalists, attempt to seclude themselves from “secular society”. They attempt to create a perfect society, a perfect society with a perfect system, perfect government, and perfect way of life. They want to make everything “Christian”. They want Christianity and Western, Christian culture to dominate and subjugate all opposition. People are tired of Christianity. They are tired of being preached to and sanctimoniously told that they are going to hell. They are tired of the rhetoric, they are tired of the hypocrisy and two-facedness. They are willing to accept anything, anything other than the so-called “Christianity” of the Western World. They are willing to accommodate Islam, atheism, anything that allows for a plural and open society. They want two sides. They want fairness and equality. They want the freedom to think and act outside of so many pointless constraints.
Christians either try to blend seamlessly into society, willing to put aside principles of the Bible and sacrifice them in order to be relevant (assimilation) OR try to create a segregated counter-culture based on some past romantic ideal of “Christian government” (isolation, utopian ideals) or “Christian society” (Dominion-ism, fundamentalism, etc.) Both assimilation and isolation are evasions of the question, “How can I be a Christian in the world I live in today?”. Some try to live in the world as the world, and simply be a part of it, worldly in all ideals and unwilling to be different. They simply accept society and culture. Others, fundamentalists, attempt to seclude themselves from “secular society”. They attempt to create a perfect society, a perfect society with a perfect system, perfect government, and perfect way of life. They want to make everything “Christian”. They want Christianity and Western, Christian culture to dominate and subjugate all opposition. People are tired of Christianity. They are tired of being preached to and sanctimoniously told that they are going to hell. They are tired of the rhetoric, they are tired of the hypocrisy and two-facedness. They are willing to accept anything, anything other than the so-called “Christianity” of the Western World. They are willing to accommodate Islam, atheism, anything that allows for a plural and open society. They want two sides. They want fairness and equality. They want the freedom to think and act outside of so many pointless constraints.
The world struggled under the burden of
Western Christianity. It cried out to be free from the religion that
had been manipulated for the self-serving purposes time and time
again, from unscrupulous and self-serving church leaders, to the dictatorial popes of the past, to the monarchs of Europe, even in the extreme figure of Adolf Hitler.
Yes, there are honestly genuine and
kind people who call themselves Christians but Christianity itself
has become insufferable to modern society. Christianity pisses people
off. It is an affront to people today in Western countries to read
the Bible and to pray and to be in any way Christian because to them,
you are being a self-righteous "assh*le" ready to force them to mold
them to your form of religion.
Let's put aside our pride and
self-righteousness for just a second, or long enough for me to
plead the case that it is, most of the time, not Jesus or the
Bible or the true faith of Christianity that people hate so much, it
is us. Christians – haters, bigots, bullies.
It's not because of
Jesus that we are hated, its because of us that Jesus is hated.
Of
course, I'm being very general, but I believe we only have ourselves
to blame for half the “persecution” we believe happens to us. So
often, is not “persecution” in Western society actually simply
the loss of power and influence (which hurts our egos and makes us
feel insecure) than the real
persecution. We are
suffering the whips that we laid upon other's backs – they are now
lashing us back in the face.
We
have a persecution complex, feeling every bit of opposition to our
precepts a violation of our religious rights.
We
complain about our religious rights being trampled upon while we do
and build towering buildings and monuments that Jesus never told us
to be, hold religious services that Jesus never prescribed.....
we want to parade our
religion on the streets and scream it from every rooftop. We want
every billboard plastered with Christian threats of eternal
punishment. We want the world to belong to us, and not to Jesus. We
want people to cower in fear when we instruct them in the way they
should go.. We are like spoiled children, grabbing toys for ourselves
and crying “foul play” when the other children we bullied unite
together and take them away.
We
are called to be humble. We are called to be disciples, and naively
put, sacrificial do-gooders. We are not to become religious police,
or institute religious government. “My kingdom is not of this
world,” Jesus said, and He is always right. Jesus' kingdom, Jesus'
temple, is built in the hearts of men, men and women and children
from all around the world. He wasn't looking to restore a Davidic
monarchy (yet) or
to take over the Roman government and use it for Christian ends.
We
are called to be lights in darkness. Stand out, and stand
alone. We are called
to be the unpopular ones, the poor ones, the humble ones, the meek
ones, the peacemakers, the poor in spirit... not the dominating,
authoritative ones. Not the ones that push our weight around (Jesus
never did). We are not called to take dominion – All power already
belongs to Jesus.
Humble,
penniless, property-less, stateless, poor in everything, despised for
our insignificance and overlooked for our obsequity... and yet rich
and powerful in all the ways that count.
First of all, we have to acknowledge our attitude to problem. Then we have a huge public-image problem to deal with, which we can only do by being a witness in little ways. Maybe we have to prove to the world, not by big events and showy dramatics, but in our every-day life, in our attitudes and in our dealing with others, who Jesus really was and is and always will be.
Glory
be to Jesus alone! Power belongs to Him alone!
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