1961 What is the main message of
the bible?
I want to continue with the
strain of thought from the last post.
But first- some politics.
Yesterday Susan Rice pulled herself
out of the race for Secretary of state.
Obviously the president felt it
would be bad to have her at the center of a huge nomination process- being
she’s at the heart of the Benghazi scandal.
Okay- what’s the big deal?
Yes- once again- some on the left
side of the aisle [not all] have accused the other side of not being ready for
a Black woman secy of state.
Huh?
Yes- the pundits were out saying ‘when
will the Repubs ever be ready for anyone but a White male holding the office’.
You know- for the money these
guys get [MSNBC] you think they would maybe educate themselves on the main
subject of their job.
We haven’t had a White- male
secretary of state for around 20 years [last one was Larry Eagleburger].
As a matter of fact- the last one
a Repub president had- just happened to be a Black woman – with the last name
of Rice! [Condi].
Sad- these race baiters are destroying
the fabric of the country- and they are doing it on the altar of vanity.
Sure- they think [make it sound
like] they are the defenders of the minorities- but they hold an elitist
attitude- one that has scorn for the rest of the country [outside the media
market of NYC].
At the end of the day- they misinform
their viewers- they believe that their racist charges are true- and they incite
a sort of ‘reverse racism’ by creating an underlying distrust of those who are
not like them.
Okay- in the last post I
discussed the main message of the bible- what the main purpose is.
Over the years- as Christianity
developed- the church had councils and meetings to hash out various controversies.
Over time- these meetings
produced the historic creeds of the church.
Now- as a Protestant- I am not an
‘anti- traditional’ one.
I have read- taught- studied the
creeds and the councils- and I’m on the side of those who hold to the creeds.
But- this has tended to cloud the
main message of the New Testament.
Which is called The Good News.
What was the message the Apostles preached in the book of Acts?
The bible says they ‘preached the
word’.
This was not simply a ‘bible
message’ per se.
That is- they were not doing what
many modern preachers do- simply going thru the bible to find various verses-
about all types of subjects- and then making application.
No- they were preaching Christ-
they were telling the world of their day that Christ came as the promised Messiah
and died and rose again.
Then they told the people if they
had faith- and they became followers of ‘This Way’- they would be justified by
God- in a way that the law would not be able to do.
This is the heart of the New
Testament message- that people are now saved by faith in the death and resurrection
of Christ- as opposed to the old way of Law.
This is the basic message- what
we call the good news.
But- like I said above- in the world
of politics and religion- this simple message has been obscured.
Many people reject Christianity
because of the hard line creeds and statements that came out of the church councils.
Many object to the way the Church
has defined the doctrine of the Trinity.
Now- I’m with the creeds on this-
but I do understand how Muslims- Jews- and even many Christian ‘groups’ have
also had problems with the historic definition.
A friend asked me the other day
about the Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Now- at first I had no idea why
he asked- but I told him I try and take a much more gracious position then you
might hear from the average Christian teacher.
I told him they did break away from
the historic position of the Trinity- but I also told him there have been many believers-
all thru the history of the church- that have done the same thing.
I did a quick review of the Arian
controversy [not Aryan- like the racist group].
In the early centuries of the
church there was a famous Catholic bishop by the name of Arias.
He held to the same belief that
the present Jehovah’s Witnesses do- that Jesus was not God- in the same sense
that God the Father is God.
Okay- eventually the church overruled
him- but there was a time where this belief was widely accepted- and taught- in
much of the church.
Till this day there are entire groups
of Christians that never rejected this initial belief- and they have been
around since the days of Arius.
So- when discussing this with my friend-
I tried to say I do understand how other religions have a problem with the historic
way we have defined the Trinity.
He then told me his dad- who was
a heathen his whole life- married a wonderful Jehovah Witness woman later in
life- and he has become a devout believer.
So- in a way he was glad to see
that even though the church does not believe the same way his dad believes- yet
at the same time- there have been- and continue to be- many sincere believers
who have had the same ideas as his dad and step mom.
Okay- said all that to say this.
Many good Muslims- who try to
serve the Lord to the best of their ability- they see this doctrine as the
major point of Christianity.
That is- they do not see the main
message spoken about in the New Testament as the simple truth that God sent
Jesus as the Messiah- more than a prophet- though a prophet he was.
But he came as the fulfillment of
the promise that God made all thru out the history of Israel.
That someday a Messiah would come
and he would not just die for the Jewish nation- but for all people groups.
And that all those who are
struggling to please God thru their own obedience to the law- they are now free
from ‘the law’ and can come to God based on the obedience of Christ.
Now- this would later become a
debate- both in church history- and in the pages of the bible itself.
We read in the New Testament that
some were accusing the apostle Paul of teaching that we can go out and sin-
break the law- because we are now under grace.
Paul defended himself against
this charge- and said we- as children of God- do God’s will.
He did not teach it was okay to
break the commandments.
But- he did teach we are not
justified- made acceptable in the sight of God- thru our doing of the
commandments.
He taught that this system of trying
to please God thru the obedience of the law was flawed from the get go.
Simply because all men are
sinners- and no man could ever keep the law 100%.
Therefore God made a New Covenant
with man [as opposed to the Old Covenant which was based on the law and works].
In this new ‘deal’ Jesus dies for
the sins of the whole world- and all who now believe are forgiven by God and
have eternal life.
This is a free gift that God
gives to man based on the death of his Son.
Jesus said ‘For God so loved the
world that he gave his only begotten Son- that whoever believes in him will not
perish but have everlasting life’.
This is the Good News- this is the
main message of the bible.
When I hear people of other faiths-
or even people who have joined various sects of Christianity- when I hear them
have sincere objections to the Trinity- or to some other doctrine- I try and
bring them back to this main message of the bible.
This simple message of Christ
dying for the sins of men- and freeing man from the struggle of trying to
please God by keeping the law- that’s the old Testament that is no longer in
force.
Paul the apostle wrote the Corinthian
church and he said he was worried that satan was blinding their minds form the
SIMPLICITY that is in Christ.
I have found this to be true over
the years- many people have all types of objections to Christianity.
Some have to do with politics and
the Western world.
Some have to do with the way the
church has come to define certain doctrines.
But for the most part- many of these
well meaning objectors have never really understood what I just showed you-
that none of these things are the main message of the bible.
No- the main message of the bible
is that because of Christ we now have a New Covenant with God.
Not one that is based on our
ability [or inability] to keep the law.
No- that was doomed from the
start- no man could do it.
But this New Deal we have is completed
in Christ- we can come boldly to the throne of grace- because Jesus made the
way.
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. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [Facebook] -
I have posted lots.
No comments:
Post a Comment