"The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He seeth the Father do.... For as the Father hath life in Himself, so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself.... I can of my own self do nothing...." John 5:19, 26, 30
"I am the vine, ye are the branches...without me, ye can do nothing." John 15:5
The implication of these two verses is that what we have (as believers) is what belongs to Christ, and what Christ has belongs to God. This gives an added dimension to the nature of Salvation.
All that God is (i.e., Holy--the perfect wholeness and harmony of His qualities) is what we, as humans, need to be (John 17:3; I Peter 1:16). However, as sinners (i.e., those bound by and enslaved to Sin; John 8:34 & Rom. 6:16) we are separated from God (Is. 59:2; Ps.88:4-5), and thus we cannot know Him and thereby partake in His holiness.
Christ has solved this problem on both fronts: [1] By being the sacrificial payment for Sin (I John 2:2), He ended the separation thereof (Eph. 2; Col. 1:20-22). [2] All that Christ is comes from God (John 5:19, 26, 30), and all that God is has been given to Christ (Col. 2:9). Therefore, it is through Him that we can know God and partake in all that He is (I Cor. 1:30-31; II Cor. 5:21; Phil. 3:8-9).
Thus, fellowship with God in His holiness was our destiny as humanity, but Sin brought by humanity's rebellion cut us off from that destiny. So God sent Christ so that (1) the world may be reconciled back unto Himself, and (2) all that He is may once again be ours (II Cor. 5:17-21). Therefore, we can see that salvation is not merely restored fellowship in the sense that God is no longer mad at us and won't throw us into hell; salvation is the restoration of a fellowship that leads into a partaking of and oneness with God and all that He is. This is the answer to mankind's deepest desires. This is the Gospel, which except a man believe, He cannot be saved.
-Jon Vowell
Showing posts with label Doctrine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Doctrine. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
The Real Nature of Salvation (A Lecture for Salvation 101)
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Sovereignty and Wine (or, God as MC)
"For exaltation cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south; God is the judge. He pulleth down one and setteth up another; for in the hand of the Lord there is a cup, whose wine is red and fully mixed, and He poureth it out, and the wicked of the earth shall drain and drink the dregs thereof." Ps. 75: 6-8
"See now that I, even I, am He, and there is no god with me. I kill and make alive. I wound, and I heal; neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand." Deut. 32:39
"Shall we receive good at the hand of God and shall we not receive evil?" Job 2:10
The image mentioned in this psalm is a master of a feast doling out the wine to His guests, with everyone receiving from His hand alone. The wicked receive justly delivered wrath and calamity ("the dregs") while the rest receive their own circumstances from God, whether they be good or evil, the point being that it all flows from God and no one else.
Now, the dance of sovereignty and freewill is a complicated spectacle, and those who too quickly and flippantly disregard one over the other cheat themselves out of the full beauty and wonder of that spectacle. If we require that the truth be simple, we had better find another universe. As it is, the truth is mysterious, not only in that it is hidden but also in that, when it is uncovered, it is a spectacle, and a spectacular one at that. Christianity has long affirmed this: life through death, strength through weakness, glory through desolation, God made flesh, etc. Reality is an endless procession of apparent opposites standing side by side and working in collusion; thus, a "dance" is a proper analogy. Until we begin to think of truth in these terms, we will always be confused and at each other's throats.
For the purposes of this entry, we shall assert sovereignty. Of course, we must assert the reality and importance of man's freewill (as it relates to his value and dignity as an image of God-bearer), as well as the reality and importance of the consequences of their freewill actions; but we must also assert (without fear or pause) the absolute control of God over every instance and incident of our lives. If God's absolute control were not true, then He would not be God.
We must not, however, deceive ourselves on this issue like the world does. Sovereignty does not mean mere control. It means control towards an end, an end that is good (Rom. 8:28). Too many people talk of God's sovereignty in terms of a mere control or manipulation devoid of purpose of plan. It is no wonder then that they get so angry; God's "mysterious ways" come across as arbitrary and pointless. Such a view is tragic precisely because it is unbiblical. The scriptures assert that God's ways are headed to a certain and purposeful end. To put it in other ways: God doles out the wine as He pleases because He is making the greatest feast ever known. He uses what colors He pleases because He is making the greatest painting ever known. He writes notes where He pleases because He is making the greatest symphony ever known. He chisels where He pleases because He is making the greatest sculpture ever known. He plays where He pleases because He is making the greatest game ever known. He moves where He pleases because He is making the greatest dance ever known. He directs where He pleases because He is making the greatest production ever known. He woos as He pleases because He is undertaking the greatest romance ever known. He cuts where He pleases because He is undertaking the greatest operation ever known. He fights how He pleases because He is fighting the greatest war ever known. He reveals as He pleases because He is teaching the greatest lesson ever known. He hides as He pleases because He is preparing the greatest surprise ever known. Anyway you put it, our God's sovereignty is no mere tyranny; it is activity, the production of certain events in order to acquire a certain result, a result whose value far out-weighs and out-shines the whole of the events that made it possible. That is not just the fact of sovereignty, but also the hope of sovereignty, the reason why we rejoice to know that God is in control.
-Jon Vowell
"We are on the wrong side of the tapestry. The things that happen here do not seem to mean anything; they mean something somewhere else." -G.K. Chesterton
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
The Gospel in the Context of the Trinity
"For thy Maker is thine husband, the Lord of hosts is His name; and thy Redeemer [is] the Holy One of Israel, The God of the whole earth shall He be called. For the Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God." Isaiah 54:5, 6
The idea of God as a romantic (in a relational and not literary sense) strikes many as unconventional, especially men (God is my husband?). Imagery aside, however, the thing to grasp here is that God desires communion with you: to love, to have and to hold. Regardless of gender, all people desire to be desired; whether for beauty or strength, all people long to be wanted by another. The desire for communion with others is a fundamental element of humanity, and the Bible tells us the shocking truth that the terrible and glorious Almighty desires to commune with us.
Now, there is a difference between desire and need. God desires communion with us, but He does not need it. Existing as the Trinity, God is in an eternal, perfect communion and society within Himself; He needs nothing more. The flip side of all this is that the truth of God existing as the Trinity is the fundamental reality behind the oft over quoted and misquoted phrase, "God is love," i.e., God's very nature is bound up in communion with others. Thus, we see two facts that emerge from God existing as a Trinity: He does not need to commune with us, for He is in perfect communion always; He does desire to commune with us because it is His very nature to commune with others. Note that the reason God desires communion with us has everything to do with Him, not us. There is nothing in us that merits God's desire; His desire springs from His own nature and nowhere else. Though we are unlovable, God loved us; while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Of course, Christ is the fullest expression and proof of God's love for us (Romans 5:8), and He came to 'make us lovable,' i.e., make us so that we can commune with God. That God desires to commune and whether or not He can commune are two different things. God cannot commune with Sin (for Sin is the rejection of and separation from God), and we are all sinners (Romans 3:23). Thus, unless something drastically changes within us, we cannot commune with God, but are destined to stay separate from Him forever, which is the true meaning of Hell (Matthew 7:23 & 25:41; notice the use by multiple translations of the word "depart"). At the Cross of Christ, however, a transaction was made. Christ, who was and is God, took our Sin upon Himself and in return gave us His righteousness, i.e., God's righteousness (II Corinthians 5:21). Therefore, Christ has (through the Cross) made a way for us to be made lovable, by making us a way to become like Love Himself. Having been 'made lovable,' (i.e., saved) by Christ, commune with God is now possible, but only if we (1) believe that Christ is the only way to be 'made lovable,' and (2) accept such a salvation (for a gift is not yours until you accept it).
Thus, by accepting the salvation found only in Christ, that which separates us from God (i.e., Sin) is done away with, and our communion with Him is restored. It is restored becomes Sin (that which absolutely separates) has been removed, and Love (that which absolutely unites) has replaced it. Therefore, the gospel is about love, romance, about God desiring us and making a way for us to commune with Him. We can reject such communion if we wish, but we do so at our own peril.
"All consuming Love and Passion,
Holy Fire of pain and pleasure,
Draw us deeper still
Into the Light of Your Glory and Grace..."
-Jon Vowell
Monday, July 21, 2008
The Right View of Man
"...they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save...there is no other God beside me; a just God and a Savior. There is none beside me. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else." Isaiah 45:20-22
Why are those who trust in anything but God fools? Because they do not (or will not) understand their true condition, and consequently their true need. There are many beautiful, noble, and logical sounding thoughts out there (some even claim to be the Gospel of Christ), but they are all heresies, idols, and false hopes that cannot save. They cannot save because they do not know humanity's true condition; they say that we are poor, or unhealthy, or uneducated, or oppressed, or in need of augmentation or social reforms, or that we need to go through the next stage of evolution, etc., etc. Any ideology or belief system that does not begin with the Fall, with the doctrine of Sin, with "as in Adam all die"(I Corinthians 15:22a) will lead mankind into the ditch every time.
Why is God the only savior? Because He alone can do anything about Sin, and Sin is our real problem as humans; it is the eternal monkey wrench in our plans, the "amartia," the tragic flaw that undoes us every time. We are not poor, sick, uneducated, oppressed, or evolving. We are sinners, and God alone can save us from that.
"Not sick, but sin sick.
Not poor, but lost.
Not stupid, but foolish without You.
Not unevolved, but in need of Forgiveness,
And Atonement..."
-Jon Vowell
Why are those who trust in anything but God fools? Because they do not (or will not) understand their true condition, and consequently their true need. There are many beautiful, noble, and logical sounding thoughts out there (some even claim to be the Gospel of Christ), but they are all heresies, idols, and false hopes that cannot save. They cannot save because they do not know humanity's true condition; they say that we are poor, or unhealthy, or uneducated, or oppressed, or in need of augmentation or social reforms, or that we need to go through the next stage of evolution, etc., etc. Any ideology or belief system that does not begin with the Fall, with the doctrine of Sin, with "as in Adam all die"(I Corinthians 15:22a) will lead mankind into the ditch every time.
Why is God the only savior? Because He alone can do anything about Sin, and Sin is our real problem as humans; it is the eternal monkey wrench in our plans, the "amartia," the tragic flaw that undoes us every time. We are not poor, sick, uneducated, oppressed, or evolving. We are sinners, and God alone can save us from that.
"Not sick, but sin sick.
Not poor, but lost.
Not stupid, but foolish without You.
Not unevolved, but in need of Forgiveness,
And Atonement..."
-Jon Vowell
Monday, June 16, 2008
The Knowing that Glorifies
"[Every]one that is called by my name...I have created Him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.... Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant who I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am He. Before me, there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me." Isaiah 43:7, 10
The purpose of our existence is the knowledge of God; and through that knowledge, we glorify Him. By "knowledge," I do not mean the accumulation of facts, but the idea of intimate communion. The "knowledge" of God is trinitarian: it is the complete enmeshing of one person with another. Intimate communion is the way to know a person; abstract reasoning can only take you so far. God was meant to be known, not studied.
By "glorify," I do not mean mere worship or evangelism. I also mean that, in intimate communion with God, you are drawn more and more into Him; and by that drawing in, you become more and more like Him. Thus, the knowledge of God glorifies God because the more we partake in intimate communion with Him, the more we disappear and the more He remains. By this, we become a living channel of His presence, and therefore His glory.
"To know You and be known,
Me in You and You in I,
Wed to Fire that burns and soothes.
Oh the agony and the ecstasy..."
-Jon Vowell
The purpose of our existence is the knowledge of God; and through that knowledge, we glorify Him. By "knowledge," I do not mean the accumulation of facts, but the idea of intimate communion. The "knowledge" of God is trinitarian: it is the complete enmeshing of one person with another. Intimate communion is the way to know a person; abstract reasoning can only take you so far. God was meant to be known, not studied.
By "glorify," I do not mean mere worship or evangelism. I also mean that, in intimate communion with God, you are drawn more and more into Him; and by that drawing in, you become more and more like Him. Thus, the knowledge of God glorifies God because the more we partake in intimate communion with Him, the more we disappear and the more He remains. By this, we become a living channel of His presence, and therefore His glory.
"To know You and be known,
Me in You and You in I,
Wed to Fire that burns and soothes.
Oh the agony and the ecstasy..."
-Jon Vowell
The Magnification of the Law
"The Lord is well pleased for His righteousness' sake; He will magnify the law, and make it honorable." Isaiah 42:21
"Think not that I am come to destroy the law...I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill." Matthew 5:17
"Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law...Therefore, the law is holy..." Romans 7:7, 12
"Therefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith." Galatians 3:24
The "law" is God's immutable code of conduct, a concrete representation of His own holiness. It is immutable because He is immutable: like Him, it does not change or alter; no amendments or addendum's. He has no intention of doing away with it anymore than He has any intention of doing away with Himself. This codex dei is still the same: if you want to abide in the presence of the Holy, then you must be holy; and if you must be holy, then here is what it means to be holy. There is still no escaping those conditions.
"The law hath concluded all under sin" (Galatians 3:22a), "Whosoever shall keep the law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all" (James 2:10). The law cannot save us; it was never meant to save us. It was meant to point us to a savior. The law condemns all "so that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe." (Galatians 3:22b) God said that he would magnify His law, and He has done it. Jesus Christ is the magnification of the law. In Him, it was fulfilled completely; and in Him, we fulfill it completely. The law was not meant to be a standard for us to meet, but a standard for us to become; and it is in Christ that we become it: "Of God are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us...righteousness..." (I Corinthians 1:30), "For God hath made Christ to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." (II Corinthians 5:21)
It is amazing how we forget that God has not changed. From the Old Testament to the New, the law is still the standard, and blood is its price. Whereas once it was fulfilled in temple worship, now it is fulfilled in Christ. It was, however, in Christ so much more than mere fulfillment; it was magnification. On the cross not only came the redemption of all, but also the magnification of these two truths: the law is still the standard, and blood is still its price.
"The Law is Holy, The Lord is Righteous.
May this my plea be:
Christ my Holiness, Christ my Righteousness..."
-Jon Vowell
"Think not that I am come to destroy the law...I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill." Matthew 5:17
"Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law...Therefore, the law is holy..." Romans 7:7, 12
"Therefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith." Galatians 3:24
The "law" is God's immutable code of conduct, a concrete representation of His own holiness. It is immutable because He is immutable: like Him, it does not change or alter; no amendments or addendum's. He has no intention of doing away with it anymore than He has any intention of doing away with Himself. This codex dei is still the same: if you want to abide in the presence of the Holy, then you must be holy; and if you must be holy, then here is what it means to be holy. There is still no escaping those conditions.
"The law hath concluded all under sin" (Galatians 3:22a), "Whosoever shall keep the law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all" (James 2:10). The law cannot save us; it was never meant to save us. It was meant to point us to a savior. The law condemns all "so that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe." (Galatians 3:22b) God said that he would magnify His law, and He has done it. Jesus Christ is the magnification of the law. In Him, it was fulfilled completely; and in Him, we fulfill it completely. The law was not meant to be a standard for us to meet, but a standard for us to become; and it is in Christ that we become it: "Of God are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us...righteousness..." (I Corinthians 1:30), "For God hath made Christ to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." (II Corinthians 5:21)
It is amazing how we forget that God has not changed. From the Old Testament to the New, the law is still the standard, and blood is its price. Whereas once it was fulfilled in temple worship, now it is fulfilled in Christ. It was, however, in Christ so much more than mere fulfillment; it was magnification. On the cross not only came the redemption of all, but also the magnification of these two truths: the law is still the standard, and blood is still its price.
"The Law is Holy, The Lord is Righteous.
May this my plea be:
Christ my Holiness, Christ my Righteousness..."
-Jon Vowell
Monday, March 3, 2008
Christian Nihilism, and Some Wrestlings
"Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the Lord, the first and the last; I am He...
"Thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend...I have chosen thee..." Isaiah 41:4, 8-9
Before I begin, I would like to apologize to my brothers and sisters who hold Calvinistic views of predestination (or anything else). I am not trying to be biting are mean, but merely state what I believe on the subject. I in no way seek to dishonor John Calvin or what he has done in Protestantism specifically and Christianity as a whole. I do not in any way wish to cause any alienation between my fellow Christians and I. I just want you to know where I stand and take it as you will.
The place Calvinism (generally speaking) gives to God's sovereignty, though quite pious, is actually quite despairing in the end. We are no longer awed or enraptured; we are terrified and confounded. We feel immutable destiny closing in around us, and freedom is lost in a darkened swirl of faceless tyranny,. Our lives mean nothing anymore: eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die as God says so. There is no motive or point to action or initiative anymore; we are mere puppets on a string, and even our defiance of the puppetry is merely more puppetry. Life means nothing now; we may as well be machines to be programmed, animals to be controlled, but not persons to be known. Do not be surprised if this all sounds like Nietchize. Calvinism and Calvinistic ideas on God's sovereignty end, at the end of the day, in Christian Nihilism.
The fact is that Calvinistic and Hyper-Calvinistic ideas about predestination and election are, in reality, too simple. Instead of trying to cover all the facts in regards to understanding the relationship between God's sovereignty and man's freewill, they take an easy road: "What is the relationship between sovereignty and freewill? Why, there is no relationship between the two! There is merely sovereignty, and that's it! Freewill is an illusion (Nietchize anyone?)! That should solve all the debates." Such "pick-and-choose" logic hardy solves any debate, but instead creates new ones (ex: What purpose is Christ? Is John 3:16 a lie? What about Ezekiel 33:11?) and gives atheist enough firepower to level the whole of Christendom (the absence of freewill means that God is a egocentric sadist as He mercilessly and arbitrarily destroys and exalts, damns and saves His creation, as He wills, for no other reason than for more glory to Himself). My friends, the relationship, the dance (if you will) between sovereignty and freewill needs to be wrestled with, not dismissed. What follows is my own personal (and incomplete) wrestlings with two choices of God: of Israel, and of the Church. Take them for what they are, as you will.
Why did God choose Israel? In truth, no one knows why God picked them (i.e., those specific people) other than He wanted to. Why does an author make one character the hero and another the villain, one more vital to the plot and another not? Because: he is trying to tell a story. The same is true with God. He is trying to tell us a story, and that story is not about His glory, per se, i.e., God's story is not Him saying, "Look at Me!" His story is about redemption, i.e., God's story is Him saying, "Look at Me, and be saved." There is a difference between a story's end and its content. The end is His glory; the content is redemption. Jesus was God's glory (as I John says), but Him coming to earth was not about God's glory; He was about redemption (which is to and for God's glory). The same is true with Israel. Why did God choose them? We do not know. Why did God choose anybody at all? To serve as His witnesses (Isaiah 43:7-10; 44:1-2, 8), to testify of His truth, to be a light to the nations, to let all know that there is only one God and in Him alone is salvation (Isaiah 43:11). God does not choose us because of us, but because He has a story to tell (see Daniel 2:27-30).
Why did God chose us for salvation? For the same reason He chose Israel: He has a story to tell. He did not, however, predestine us as the elect. He predestined Christ as the Elect, and all who are of Him are the elect, are "accepted in the beloved," the beloved who is Christ (Romans 8:29; Galatians 3: 16, 26-29; Ephesians 1:3-14). Christ is the Elect, and neither is there salvation in any other whereby men might be saved. In order to be elect, you must choose to be of the Elect; in order to be "accepted," you must choose to be "in the beloved." Thus is the paradox, thus is the dance of sovereignty and free will. God chose Christ; we cannot change that immutable fact. We can either get with it or not, as we choose. The will of God is unchanging, His sovereignty immutable; but our attendance in it is not required. We can be swept up in it or run over by it, as we will.
"To You or to nothing,
We have the choice.
Condemned to be free,
We have no right not to choose..."
-Jon Vowell
"Thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend...I have chosen thee..." Isaiah 41:4, 8-9
Before I begin, I would like to apologize to my brothers and sisters who hold Calvinistic views of predestination (or anything else). I am not trying to be biting are mean, but merely state what I believe on the subject. I in no way seek to dishonor John Calvin or what he has done in Protestantism specifically and Christianity as a whole. I do not in any way wish to cause any alienation between my fellow Christians and I. I just want you to know where I stand and take it as you will.
The place Calvinism (generally speaking) gives to God's sovereignty, though quite pious, is actually quite despairing in the end. We are no longer awed or enraptured; we are terrified and confounded. We feel immutable destiny closing in around us, and freedom is lost in a darkened swirl of faceless tyranny,. Our lives mean nothing anymore: eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die as God says so. There is no motive or point to action or initiative anymore; we are mere puppets on a string, and even our defiance of the puppetry is merely more puppetry. Life means nothing now; we may as well be machines to be programmed, animals to be controlled, but not persons to be known. Do not be surprised if this all sounds like Nietchize. Calvinism and Calvinistic ideas on God's sovereignty end, at the end of the day, in Christian Nihilism.
The fact is that Calvinistic and Hyper-Calvinistic ideas about predestination and election are, in reality, too simple. Instead of trying to cover all the facts in regards to understanding the relationship between God's sovereignty and man's freewill, they take an easy road: "What is the relationship between sovereignty and freewill? Why, there is no relationship between the two! There is merely sovereignty, and that's it! Freewill is an illusion (Nietchize anyone?)! That should solve all the debates." Such "pick-and-choose" logic hardy solves any debate, but instead creates new ones (ex: What purpose is Christ? Is John 3:16 a lie? What about Ezekiel 33:11?) and gives atheist enough firepower to level the whole of Christendom (the absence of freewill means that God is a egocentric sadist as He mercilessly and arbitrarily destroys and exalts, damns and saves His creation, as He wills, for no other reason than for more glory to Himself). My friends, the relationship, the dance (if you will) between sovereignty and freewill needs to be wrestled with, not dismissed. What follows is my own personal (and incomplete) wrestlings with two choices of God: of Israel, and of the Church. Take them for what they are, as you will.
Why did God choose Israel? In truth, no one knows why God picked them (i.e., those specific people) other than He wanted to. Why does an author make one character the hero and another the villain, one more vital to the plot and another not? Because: he is trying to tell a story. The same is true with God. He is trying to tell us a story, and that story is not about His glory, per se, i.e., God's story is not Him saying, "Look at Me!" His story is about redemption, i.e., God's story is Him saying, "Look at Me, and be saved." There is a difference between a story's end and its content. The end is His glory; the content is redemption. Jesus was God's glory (as I John says), but Him coming to earth was not about God's glory; He was about redemption (which is to and for God's glory). The same is true with Israel. Why did God choose them? We do not know. Why did God choose anybody at all? To serve as His witnesses (Isaiah 43:7-10; 44:1-2, 8), to testify of His truth, to be a light to the nations, to let all know that there is only one God and in Him alone is salvation (Isaiah 43:11). God does not choose us because of us, but because He has a story to tell (see Daniel 2:27-30).
Why did God chose us for salvation? For the same reason He chose Israel: He has a story to tell. He did not, however, predestine us as the elect. He predestined Christ as the Elect, and all who are of Him are the elect, are "accepted in the beloved," the beloved who is Christ (Romans 8:29; Galatians 3: 16, 26-29; Ephesians 1:3-14). Christ is the Elect, and neither is there salvation in any other whereby men might be saved. In order to be elect, you must choose to be of the Elect; in order to be "accepted," you must choose to be "in the beloved." Thus is the paradox, thus is the dance of sovereignty and free will. God chose Christ; we cannot change that immutable fact. We can either get with it or not, as we choose. The will of God is unchanging, His sovereignty immutable; but our attendance in it is not required. We can be swept up in it or run over by it, as we will.
"To You or to nothing,
We have the choice.
Condemned to be free,
We have no right not to choose..."
-Jon Vowell
Thursday, October 25, 2007
The Firstborn
"Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly...he shall dwell on high..." Isaiah 33:14-16
From the burning bush of Moses, to the pillar of fire in the wilderness, to the burning presence on Mt. Sinai, redeemed Israel knew one thing for certain: "Our God is a consuming fire." (Hebrews 12:29) Fast forward around a thousand years: Israel is once again threatened by a terrible foe (i.e., Assyria). What is worse, Israel's sin has incurred the wrath of her Lord, and His burning presence is coming to wreck havoc on the land. "Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire?" they rightly ask. Then comes their answer, "The righteous."
The presence of God is all consuming perfection. No imperfections will last even a second in His blaze. Sin (the absolute absence of perfection) will be instantaneously obliterated, not necessarily because of what God does as much as who God is. God is holiness and perfection; anything less than that will not survive His presence. Outer darkness is the only place Sin can survive. In short, only perfection can stand before perfection; only God can stand before God.
If such a statement does not create despair in you, than you must not be awake. Mankind may act charitable sometimes (to ease their guilt, and only if they get something in return, of course), and may act moral on occasion (in order to keep out of trouble and not ruin future enterprises); but all in all, human history cries vehemently in rebuttal to any claim of human perfection or perfectness. There are some fools who claim humanity can reach perfection with time as our intelligence grows. Look at the last century: our grown intelligence only helped us kill ourselves in more brutal and effective ways than ever before; and that fact lingers to this day. Nothing, absolutely nothing, we have ever or will ever do can create the inner disposition of perfection needed to stand before Perfection Himself.
If only God can stand before God, then our only hope is if somehow, someway God can be within us. Not placed within us (like a transplanted organ), and not in us merely as power so that we become a god; but that the Spirit of God somehow intimately mingles and mixes with us, somehow His Spirit unites and communes with ours. In short, our only hope is incarnation, and Christ is the firstborn among many brethren (Romans 8:29).
"Spirit of the Living God,
Mingle with my dust,
Dance within my frame,
And make us One..."
-Jon Vowell
From the burning bush of Moses, to the pillar of fire in the wilderness, to the burning presence on Mt. Sinai, redeemed Israel knew one thing for certain: "Our God is a consuming fire." (Hebrews 12:29) Fast forward around a thousand years: Israel is once again threatened by a terrible foe (i.e., Assyria). What is worse, Israel's sin has incurred the wrath of her Lord, and His burning presence is coming to wreck havoc on the land. "Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire?" they rightly ask. Then comes their answer, "The righteous."
The presence of God is all consuming perfection. No imperfections will last even a second in His blaze. Sin (the absolute absence of perfection) will be instantaneously obliterated, not necessarily because of what God does as much as who God is. God is holiness and perfection; anything less than that will not survive His presence. Outer darkness is the only place Sin can survive. In short, only perfection can stand before perfection; only God can stand before God.
If such a statement does not create despair in you, than you must not be awake. Mankind may act charitable sometimes (to ease their guilt, and only if they get something in return, of course), and may act moral on occasion (in order to keep out of trouble and not ruin future enterprises); but all in all, human history cries vehemently in rebuttal to any claim of human perfection or perfectness. There are some fools who claim humanity can reach perfection with time as our intelligence grows. Look at the last century: our grown intelligence only helped us kill ourselves in more brutal and effective ways than ever before; and that fact lingers to this day. Nothing, absolutely nothing, we have ever or will ever do can create the inner disposition of perfection needed to stand before Perfection Himself.
If only God can stand before God, then our only hope is if somehow, someway God can be within us. Not placed within us (like a transplanted organ), and not in us merely as power so that we become a god; but that the Spirit of God somehow intimately mingles and mixes with us, somehow His Spirit unites and communes with ours. In short, our only hope is incarnation, and Christ is the firstborn among many brethren (Romans 8:29).
"Spirit of the Living God,
Mingle with my dust,
Dance within my frame,
And make us One..."
-Jon Vowell
Monday, September 17, 2007
For the Record
For my own cognitive benefit (as well as the benefit of the curious), I have decided to put down the essential beliefs that I hold to. There are many details that could be added, but that is what all my other posts are for. Here, let the essentials be stated.
To put it simply, I follow after the five "Solas," which are as follows:
To put it simply, I follow after the five "Solas," which are as follows:
- Sola Scriptura: "Scripture alone," i.e., the Bible is my ultimate authority.
- Sola Christus: "Christ alone," i.e., the redemption of Christ is the only salvation.
- Sola Gratius: "Grace alone," i.e., salvation is by the grace of God, not human merit.
- Sola Fide: "Faith alone," i.e., this grace is received through faith, not human work.
- Sola Deo Gloria: "Glory of God alone," i.e., all things are to be done for God's glory and reflect God's glory.
Friday, July 13, 2007
Order and Salvation
"The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate..." Isaiah 24:5, 6
There is an order to the universe. That order is God's will. He communicates that will to us through His laws, ordinances, and covenants. They are boundaries and limitations set on the universe that keep the order that is His will. His order is boundaries, but not a prison, for outside the lines of His will is only Chaos and Night, and to be lost in them is the worst kind of slavery.
God's order is defined by hierarchy: animals submitted to humans, children to parents, servants to masters, wives to husbands, the Church to Christ, all men to God. Each submission differs in kind and not degree, but they are all still the submission of one to another. It is this hierarchical structure that makes up God's will, and it is the only way to keep peace and harmony in the universe.
Now, Sin is the breaking of that structure, the defiance of that order, the turning from God's will to self will. As Lewis put it, "It is the nature of evil to spread. Limitations and boundaries belong to the good." The pain and damage of Sin is caused because Sin breaks out of the structure, it steps out of God's will and into the void where God is not, and where He is not there is only negation and death, i.e., Hell. Sin brings the presence of Hell into a person.
When Adam sinned, the whole of humanity was separated from that structure, and hence from God's will, and hence from God Himself. This separation has altered our fundamental disposition: where once we were alive, now we are dead, and dead men are incapable of any action; therefore, we are unable to return to that order. Also, where once we naturally embraced life (which is the essence of God's will), now we naturally embrace death (see Romans 7:18-23). Therefore, we can no longer keep within that structure even if we somehow could get back to it as dead men. This whole mess is what Christ came to fix: to bring us back to the fellowship of God's will (for it is fellowship with Him), and give us the fundamental disposition (i.e., His own) that will keep us within it.
God's will can never be broken. It is never a question of breaking it, but whether or not you get with it, and Christ makes it possible for fallen man to get with it again. You can stay outside it if you like, but know that there is only outer darkness beyond the will of God, a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth.
God's will is not some box that the universe is crammed into. God designed the universe to only work within the order of His will. It is the way it ought to be, the way it's supposed to work. There is no other way it can work. Outside of His will is not freedom, but slavery: slavery to chaos and insanity, to darkness and death, for there is nothing else out there.
The structure of God's will is the only way anything in the universe finds fulfillment, for it is not the mere keeping of creeds and rules. The will of God is kept because God is within you, and God is only within you when you commune with Him, so therefore the will of God is kept and fullness found only in communion with God: finding your place in the Trinity's great dance, your soul completely in tune with the movements of Love Himself. That is where peace and harmony are found, and they are found no where else. This is what Christ wants to do for you: bring your soul back into communion with God, to place it back in the structure of His will, to put you back in the place where you belong and where you find fulfillment.
It is a truism (I believe) that inconsistency breeds pain: inconsistent eating habits, weather patterns, or the workings of a day or week can all bring varying levels of pain to body and soul. Now, God's will is a structure, hence order, hence consistency (not monotony; God's structure is orderly as He is orderly, but it is also endless various as He is endless various: every sunset varies from another, but they all stay within the laws that they abide by). To step out of God's will is to step outside the consistency that is of God, which means the inconsistency that is opposite of God's will is the worse kind of inconsistency ("corrupto optimi pessima"), and therefore it brings the worse kind of pain, i.e., the pain of the chaotic soul. The Word (the very essence of structure and order) came to bring us back to that consistency, to bring our chaotic souls back to the harmonious order of God's will. That is salvation, that is the peace of our lives. Oh, to be fully swept up into the wonders of His order! How infinite are its pleasures, for His pleasures are infinite! Amen.
There is an order to the universe. That order is God's will. He communicates that will to us through His laws, ordinances, and covenants. They are boundaries and limitations set on the universe that keep the order that is His will. His order is boundaries, but not a prison, for outside the lines of His will is only Chaos and Night, and to be lost in them is the worst kind of slavery.
God's order is defined by hierarchy: animals submitted to humans, children to parents, servants to masters, wives to husbands, the Church to Christ, all men to God. Each submission differs in kind and not degree, but they are all still the submission of one to another. It is this hierarchical structure that makes up God's will, and it is the only way to keep peace and harmony in the universe.
Now, Sin is the breaking of that structure, the defiance of that order, the turning from God's will to self will. As Lewis put it, "It is the nature of evil to spread. Limitations and boundaries belong to the good." The pain and damage of Sin is caused because Sin breaks out of the structure, it steps out of God's will and into the void where God is not, and where He is not there is only negation and death, i.e., Hell. Sin brings the presence of Hell into a person.
When Adam sinned, the whole of humanity was separated from that structure, and hence from God's will, and hence from God Himself. This separation has altered our fundamental disposition: where once we were alive, now we are dead, and dead men are incapable of any action; therefore, we are unable to return to that order. Also, where once we naturally embraced life (which is the essence of God's will), now we naturally embrace death (see Romans 7:18-23). Therefore, we can no longer keep within that structure even if we somehow could get back to it as dead men. This whole mess is what Christ came to fix: to bring us back to the fellowship of God's will (for it is fellowship with Him), and give us the fundamental disposition (i.e., His own) that will keep us within it.
God's will can never be broken. It is never a question of breaking it, but whether or not you get with it, and Christ makes it possible for fallen man to get with it again. You can stay outside it if you like, but know that there is only outer darkness beyond the will of God, a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth.
God's will is not some box that the universe is crammed into. God designed the universe to only work within the order of His will. It is the way it ought to be, the way it's supposed to work. There is no other way it can work. Outside of His will is not freedom, but slavery: slavery to chaos and insanity, to darkness and death, for there is nothing else out there.
The structure of God's will is the only way anything in the universe finds fulfillment, for it is not the mere keeping of creeds and rules. The will of God is kept because God is within you, and God is only within you when you commune with Him, so therefore the will of God is kept and fullness found only in communion with God: finding your place in the Trinity's great dance, your soul completely in tune with the movements of Love Himself. That is where peace and harmony are found, and they are found no where else. This is what Christ wants to do for you: bring your soul back into communion with God, to place it back in the structure of His will, to put you back in the place where you belong and where you find fulfillment.
It is a truism (I believe) that inconsistency breeds pain: inconsistent eating habits, weather patterns, or the workings of a day or week can all bring varying levels of pain to body and soul. Now, God's will is a structure, hence order, hence consistency (not monotony; God's structure is orderly as He is orderly, but it is also endless various as He is endless various: every sunset varies from another, but they all stay within the laws that they abide by). To step out of God's will is to step outside the consistency that is of God, which means the inconsistency that is opposite of God's will is the worse kind of inconsistency ("corrupto optimi pessima"), and therefore it brings the worse kind of pain, i.e., the pain of the chaotic soul. The Word (the very essence of structure and order) came to bring us back to that consistency, to bring our chaotic souls back to the harmonious order of God's will. That is salvation, that is the peace of our lives. Oh, to be fully swept up into the wonders of His order! How infinite are its pleasures, for His pleasures are infinite! Amen.
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