Sunday, October 10, 2004
Today, I'm back on the topic of sin. What a tantilizing topic!
Thanks for your comments on my last blog, Nick. I agree with you and yet I feel like such a schizophrenic(sp?) when it comes to sin. Jesus' Grace is sufficient, he died on the cross, he said forgive 70 x 7 times, Jesus forgave sinner after sinner, Paul says that we are no longer under the law; yet Jesus also said he's going to separate the sheep from the goats, Jesus says sin against the Holy Spirit is unforgivable, good seed scattered on bad soil will die, when weeds grow up in a field the farmer has his workers cut them out, Paul says to kick continually-sinful people out of the church, God brought his wrath on sinful cities and people, Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden, the flood . . .
Karl Barth wrote that man's participation in the being of God has been accomplished in God's particicpation in the being of man.
Is Judas Iscariot in Heaven?
In many ways I think that God is the God of a "good heart" or "good intentions". Jesus says that it is your heart, thoughts, and intentions that matter even more than your actions: hatetred is worse than murder, lust is worse than adultary. Peter followed the Lord with his whole heart but his actions couldn't follow through. King David was a man after God's heart but his actions fell short. Loving your neighbor is an act that flows from inside your soul. To truly have love for someone cannot be faked on the inside. You may have polite outward actions but God knows your heart, doesn't he.
Please comment your thoughts.
Thanks for your comments on my last blog, Nick. I agree with you and yet I feel like such a schizophrenic(sp?) when it comes to sin. Jesus' Grace is sufficient, he died on the cross, he said forgive 70 x 7 times, Jesus forgave sinner after sinner, Paul says that we are no longer under the law; yet Jesus also said he's going to separate the sheep from the goats, Jesus says sin against the Holy Spirit is unforgivable, good seed scattered on bad soil will die, when weeds grow up in a field the farmer has his workers cut them out, Paul says to kick continually-sinful people out of the church, God brought his wrath on sinful cities and people, Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden, the flood . . .
Karl Barth wrote that man's participation in the being of God has been accomplished in God's particicpation in the being of man.
Is Judas Iscariot in Heaven?
In many ways I think that God is the God of a "good heart" or "good intentions". Jesus says that it is your heart, thoughts, and intentions that matter even more than your actions: hatetred is worse than murder, lust is worse than adultary. Peter followed the Lord with his whole heart but his actions couldn't follow through. King David was a man after God's heart but his actions fell short. Loving your neighbor is an act that flows from inside your soul. To truly have love for someone cannot be faked on the inside. You may have polite outward actions but God knows your heart, doesn't he.
Please comment your thoughts.
Wednesday, October 06, 2004
I write a lot of jibberdy-jabber on my Blogg that is just plain ole' jibberdy-jabber. I get these notions about the world, economy, sin, God, humankind, and the like and I sort of just spew forth some deep thought garble that may or may not be good for anyone else to read. My mind is so spongy and mushy from the shear number of new ideas that have been forced upon it lately that I sometimes don't know if I'm standing up or lying down. How is a man who doesn't know if he's up or down supposed to coherently write about faith?
I have been thinking much lately about sin and God's dealing with sin, specifically in respect to God's gracious gift to mankind, Jesus Christ. Sin in the post-cross universe. Karl Barth, in regard to Paul's letters, says that Christians cannot sin. Is this true? To be in Christ is to no longer be bound by sin? Is sin still there but is now simply inconsequential? Or did sin dissapear? I don't think sin is gone because I'm still full of it! Yet God's grace in Christ is sufficient and covers my transgressions. The Lord came to save sinners. What would happen to the woman (who was going to be stoned for adultary) if she went back to sleep with the same man that very night? Does God love us not only through his grace, but also through his wrath?
What is your view of sin? How do you think God will deal with your sin? Or, what is God's response to your sin? Please comment.
I have been thinking much lately about sin and God's dealing with sin, specifically in respect to God's gracious gift to mankind, Jesus Christ. Sin in the post-cross universe. Karl Barth, in regard to Paul's letters, says that Christians cannot sin. Is this true? To be in Christ is to no longer be bound by sin? Is sin still there but is now simply inconsequential? Or did sin dissapear? I don't think sin is gone because I'm still full of it! Yet God's grace in Christ is sufficient and covers my transgressions. The Lord came to save sinners. What would happen to the woman (who was going to be stoned for adultary) if she went back to sleep with the same man that very night? Does God love us not only through his grace, but also through his wrath?
What is your view of sin? How do you think God will deal with your sin? Or, what is God's response to your sin? Please comment.
Saturday, October 02, 2004
"I would rather have blood on my hands than water (like Pontius Pilate)"
- Brittish author whom I can't specifically recall.
Is it worse to be the one consumed with a treacherous evil, or to be the one standing by with indifference? Are American Christians indifferent to evil in the world? Have we become the modern day Pilate and simply wash our hands of the evil we see around us?
- Brittish author whom I can't specifically recall.
Is it worse to be the one consumed with a treacherous evil, or to be the one standing by with indifference? Are American Christians indifferent to evil in the world? Have we become the modern day Pilate and simply wash our hands of the evil we see around us?
