There are typically 5 listed solas:
How is one saved??
1) By grace alone
2) Through faith alone
3) In Christ alone
4) As revealed by Scripture alone
5) To the glory of God alone
********************************
Now that differs a bit from the 'one true church' philosophy (or ecclesiological position).
That position asserts that Jesus gave His authority solely to one faith or institutional group ...and it is interesting how many vastly different groups claim they are the one to whom Jesus gave that authority. And it seems they spend a vast amount of effort which seems more exhausting than exhaustive ...focusing more on who receives the authority than who gave it.
Considering the Great Commission given by Jesus for all His disciples (including us today) to spread the Gospel to all the world ...it would seem more productive to simply do that, than to spend so much time considering who can do it better, or even worse, excluding those whom we feel are not as qualified.
Instead of spending so much time shoring up our stance to differentiate ourselves from other Christians, shouldn't we be expending our efforts to reach other shores who haven't heard the Gospel of Jesus???
What is my stance??
I think we should take the Great Commission seriously ...yet, we have to first take Jesus to heart. And what do we follow in order to follow Jesus ...wouldn't that be some understanding of who He is??
What I follow, is the Bible ...to follow who Jesus is. What better record of Jesus than the writings by the very disciples who followed Him!!
And if we are also going to be disciples of Jesus, then we are going to testify to who He is. And it is not done very well when we are divisive.
Though it is comforting to see God working in spite of ourselves. We see that is evident in the Book of Acts where Paul and Barnabas were planning to go together on a missionary trip.
Barnabas wanted to take along John Mark, but Paul didn't. Paul and Barnabas disagreed so vehemently that Barnabas took a different missionary trip with John Mark, and Paul took Silas with him instead of Barnabas. So, two missionary trips took place instead of one.
Promoting or practicing divisiveness is often the unintended outcome when we think we are just standing up for what we believe God wants, and we view it as our responsibility to carry out God's work.
The Bible says our ways are not His ways ...though that should not discourage us from trying to do things in a way we feel my be more pleasing to Him.
In the bigger picture, there is only one Way, Truth, and Life. So, how should be live??Considering His righteousness, when is it decided upon whether we should stand firm, or be gracious?? If we don't stand firm, couldn't that cause further problems down the road?? We can see for ourselves what Jesus said by reading Luke 12:51 ---"Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division."
Yet, when we read Chapter 2 of Luke, the birth of Jesus, we read of the announcement by the angels, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will towards men ..."
And John, Chapter 14 quotes Jesus as saying, "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you ..."
So, what is it?? What does it mean when Jesus says He came to bring division, yet He gives us peace??
Well, it seems that those of us who accept Him, we are to be the beneficiaries of His peace. We may not find much peace hear on earth, but Jesus is peace ...and He wants us to hold it within us, as it is the desire for others to have it that drives us, in spite of the struggles we may encounter.
The peace that stands foremost as a hope and a promise is the eternal peace. This existence here on earth is extremely important, as it is where we can also reach out and communicate to those whom we should also want to share the eternal peace with.
Why doesn't everyone get eternal peace?? Well, love itself is a free choice. And we have the opportunity to freely choose His love ...the kind of love where a Father would send His Son to a not so nice place where He knows many will not receive Him well ---and it was not just a 'kind of love where a Father would' ---He did.
So, in this life on earth, we are to go out and share the truths of God ...not separating ourselves from the world, but reaching out to them. But, when God feels the work is done, He will accept the separation, not which He has caused ...as He has caused us to want to reach out, as each of us comes to understand how great His love is.
But, individuals cause themselves to not accept this love ...they reject God, and separate themselves from Him, while also rejecting those who also struggle in this life, though not failing to glorify Him, in spite of hardships.
There has to be separation (or division) from those who don't accept His peace ...otherwise, without the separation, Heaven would be a very unstable place, much like earth often is.
Adam & Eve were separated from the rest of the earth, in a Garden paradise. Who wanted to mess up that paradise, and invited himself?
Well, it won't be that way in Heaven. No one can invite themselves ...it is all about accepting the invitation of Jesus into our hearts. Yes, He is our salvation.
Meanwhile, things look rather bleak here on earth at times.
We don't know when God is going to work things out ...but, we are told somewhat how things will go, and we are assured of the outcome.
Life is supposed to be God's way, and He will decide how gracious He will be with both His loving mercy and His righteousness. We can not begin to understand the depths of God's wisdom, nor how anyone will respond to His love ...we need only to extend as much love as we can, and glorify Him in doing so. We need to practice love more, and at times release our strong feelings on how things should be done ...and watch God work it out.
We should be neither complacent, nor totally complaisant ...nor should we be so driven that we are complicit with constantly dividing people.
And our focus should be on how God can use us, not focusing on ourselves, and to the degree we feel we please Him or fail Him. Whether it was the mom of Zebedee's sons or the sons themselves who requested to be reserved the honor of one being on His left and the other being on His right ...Jesus quickly deterred and deferred that notion.
We need to take the focus off of us, and put it where it belongs ...on Him. Jesus is who He is, and who He is, we should profess that He is (or how He put it: I AM WHO I AM).
No comments:
Post a Comment