Saturday, March 24, 2012

1812- John 3- Ephesians 2 [and the chicken!]

I want to cover the 2 bible chapters that I mentioned the other day- John chapter 3 and Ephesians chapter 2.

But first- some business.

I wrote a post the other day about ‘confiscating’ the little plastic bags at my local grocery store [HEB].

And some of you might be thinking ‘see- crime does pay’.

For your information- the bags were probably worth about 25 cents.

The other day I went to take out the chicken thighs for dinner- I couldn’t find them!

Then I thought ‘gee- my truck has been smelling like dead bodies lately’.

Yes- the chicken was left under the back seat for 2 days- cost- about 6 dollars.

Lesson? Don’t steal the bags anymore- cost? Priceless.

Okay- John chapter 3 is the famous chapter where Jesus tells Nicodemus ‘a man cannot see the kingdom of God unless he is born again’ [or born from above].

We also have the famous John 3:16 verse ‘for God so loved the world…’

If you read the chapter- both Jesus- and John the Baptist speak about those who believe- they are not condemned- and those who do not believe are judged.

Yet Jesus says he came into the world- not to condemn it- but to save it.

In Ephesians chapter 2 the apostle Paul says we are ‘saved by grace- not of works- lest any man should boast’.

Both chapters emphasize the role faith plays in salvation.

Okay- where did I come up with these chapters for the reading of the week?

They were both quoted from during the mass on Sunday [as a Protestant- I always try and watch the mass on Sunday- as well as doing our own home church meeting].

‘John- do Catholics believe in being born again’?

Yes- very much so.

Being born again is actually a vital doctrine within Catholicism.

For a brief review of Catholic/Protestant teaching- on my blog- on the front page to the left- you will see a bunch of studies that I have highlighted- click the ‘Protestant Reformation- Luther’ and you will get a more in depth discussion on some of the differences- and points of agreement.

But for this brief post- Catholics [and Orthodox] believe the new birth takes place at baptism- for the most part Protestants/Evangelicals believe it takes place at the point of faith [added to a long list of ‘altar calls’ or ‘5 steps of conversion’ etc.- in short- Protestants have their own sacramental system- they just don’t know it!]

I say- mostly- because there are many various groups within the Protestant movement that also would agree that water baptism is the point of being saved [church of Christ- various Pentecostal groups- etc.].

Now- I hold more to the historic Reformation view [faith] but I do not see a ‘grave’ departure from scripture with those who put more of the emphasis on baptism.

There are verses in John 3- Jesus says ‘a man must be born of water and the spirit’.

Plus- the last half of the chapter starts with a discussion over ‘purifying’.

There was a debate- going on at the time- between Jesus and John’s followers- about baptism- the chapter says the debate was about ‘purifying’.

Overall- it’s not unreasonable- in my mind- to hold to the more traditional emphasis on the importance of the role of baptism.

Yet- Christians fight- vehemently- over this.

In this part of the country it’s common for a Baptist- Assembly of God- or Church of Christ believer to view the ‘other team’ as a cult over this- this to me is very sad.

The main point?

Regardless of how much of a role water baptism plays in your particular denomination- the main point is we are saved by faith- thru the death and resurrection of Christ.

In the Ephesians chapter- Paul actually hits on some pretty deep themes- that the death of Christ removed the ‘wall of separation’ between Jew and Gentile- and we both are made into ‘one new man’.

This shows us the role that the Cross should play in society- it should bring various groups and cultures together- not divide them.

It would take a little too much time for me to go into what the ‘wall of separation’ was in Paul’s day.

But he wasn’t speaking about our sins separating us from God [though this of course is true].

But he was speaking about the role the law [10 commandments] played at the time.

Paul- a zealous teacher of the Jewish law [Pharisee] held the law in high esteem- and often it became a barrier between the Jew and Gentile.

Some of the more fame seeking Pharisees [the ones we see Jesus interacting with in the gospels] used the fact that they were the nation that received the law under Moses- as an ‘I’m better than you’ mentality.

Paul says ‘the law of commandments that was against us- Jesus nailed them to his Cross’ [Colossians].

He also says in his letter to the Galatians ‘if righteousness comes by the law- then Christ died in vain’ strong words indeed!

The point he is making is we- believers- are no longer under the condemnation of the law- no longer under the continual threat of God striking us down at any moment because of our sin.

We have been saved by grace and those who ‘walk in the Spirit’ are no longer under condemnation [Romans 8].

So- Jesus nailed the law to the Cross- and the barrier that separated Jew from gentile- as well as sinful man from a Holy God- has been ‘taken away’ by Christ.

I must note that the apostle Paul himself- who is famous for this teaching- always added the caveat ‘do we now sin because we are not under the law? God forbid!’

He was accused- by the strict sect of the Pharisees [known as Judaizers] of teaching a ‘lawless gospel’.

No- he- as well as most Christian denominations today- teach that the 10 commandments are still very important- and as believers in Christ we will naturally- by our new birth- fulfill the law.

But it is no longer this sword of Damocles hanging over our head.

Okay- for those who haven’t had time to read the chapters yet- try and read them over the weekend- they are short chapters- think about what I said in this post- look for the emphasis on faith- the role that faith plays in our salvation.

I’ll be back in a few days- but I need to go now- need to get another pack of chicken thighs before the store gets crowded.

www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com

Note- Do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on. Thanks- John

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