A conscience washed clean I. Imagery of Forgiveness as "Washing". A. Objectively (in God's sight). 1. The blood of Christ (Rev. 1:5). 2. The Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:11; Titus 3:5). 3. The word of God/Christ (John 15:3 - logos; Eph. 5:25-26 - rhema). B. Subjectively (for "clean" conscience): baptismal water (Heb. 1:22; Acts 22:16; see also 1 Pet. 3:21). 1. The outer is meaningless without inner. 2. The inner calls for form in meaningful personal experience. II. Old Testament background of forgiveness (lit. "release"). A. Scapegoat "released" into desert (Lev. … [Read more...]
Archives for April 2012
BAPTISM — A CLOSER LOOK BAPTISM & LIFE FROM ABOVE
Washing God's newborn childI. How We Understand and Interpret Scripture Depends on our Perspective/Framework. Remember: the Reality is Larger Than Any Window's View of It. A. Sacerdotal ("right" words + "correct" motions = desired result) vs. evangelical (God meets words and deeds done in faith). B. Sacramental (God acts in the ordinance) vs. symbolic (the ordinance only points to God's action). C. Reformed/Calvinist (Christ's atonement accomplished salvation for all who will finally be saved = the elect) vs. Arminian/Wesleyan (Christ's atonement made salvation possible for … [Read more...]
BAPTISM — A CLOSER LOOK BAPTISM IN THE GREAT COMMISSION
"Meet me at the water" A. As risen Messiah of the end-time with universal sovereignty granted by God himself, Jesus sends out the 12 to bring all nations into discipleship to him. B. The inclusive scope: all authority; all the nations; all I commanded; all the days. C. "All authority given" (see Daniel 7:13-14). D. The commission: "going, make disciples" bring the people into submissive relationship with Jesus the risen Messiah. 1. Two participles elaborate on disciple-making. a. Baptizing. (1) "Into the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit". (a) No example of Trinitarian … [Read more...]
BAPTISM — A CLOSER LOOK JESUS’ BAPTISM AND OURS
The Savior and the sinners I. The Accounts of Jesus' Baptism. A. Matthew 3:13-17 (Jesus is the Righteous Remnant of Israel who does the Father's will). "In this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness" (Matt. 3:15; see Isaiah 64:5). B. Mark 1:9-11 (Jesus is God's Son). "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God" (Mk. 1:1). C. Luke 3:21-22 (Jesus is the Second Adam who redeems humankind). "When all the people were being baptized, Jesus also was baptized" (Lk. 3:21). II. The Signs at Jesus' Baptism. A. The heavens open (Matt. 3:16; … [Read more...]
EXTENDING BLESSING: THE OTHER SIDE OF THANKFUL
Today's gracEmail is written by my friend Fred Peatross, who introduces himself as a "cultural architect" for Christ. Fred is an influential participant in the emergent/missional movement, "Conversation Editor" for New Wineskins online journal and the author of a regular e-column as well as several books. He writes from the edge where faith meets the future and his writing often leaves me a bit uncomfortable -- which, I usually conclude, is exactly what I need. * * * Extending blessing: the other side of thankful by Fred Peatross Scripture always bends towards the oppressed and the … [Read more...]
HE KNEW US FIRST
A gracEmail subscriber asks what it means that God chose and predestined us before the creation of the world (Eph. 1:4-5). * * * These verses are part of a 203-word sentence in Greek that includes all of verses 3-14. Paul is bubbling over as he considers God's overwhelming generosity to us through Jesus Christ, and once he starts talking about it, there is hardly any way to stop! "Blessed be God," he exclaims in verse 3, "who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing!" The three words I just italicized are three different parts of speech, but they are all forms of a single root word that … [Read more...]
RANDOM THOUGHTS: INDIVIDUALS NOT INSTITUTION (5)
The ekklesia/church consists of individuals but it is not about individualism. New Testament writers emphasize the togetherness, the "one-anotherness" of the ekklesia/church. God did not send Moses door to door in Egypt, distributing maps with instructions on how to escape slavery one person at a time. God rescued all the Hebrews and all non-Israelites associated with them, in a single, mighty work of deliverance. Jesus does not rescue the world from sin by a succession of single-person saving events. He accomplished redemption once for all--and once done, it will never need doing … [Read more...]
RANDOM THOUGHTS: CHURCH AS INDIVIDUALS AND NOT AS INSTITUTION
In this unusually-lengthy column I explore the interesting possibility that the self-described "non-institutional" wing of the Churches of Christ might spring from premises that are excessively and unbiblically institutional. In the next (final) serving of random thoughts on this theme, I want to ramble about the American danger of over-emphasizing the individual to the neglect of a sense of community in the body of Christ. The 1950s and 1960s saw the divisive climax of a controversy within the Churches of Christ as an estimated fifteen percent of churches, who charged that certain … [Read more...]
A THIRD OFFERING OF RANDOM THOUGHTS ON THE CHURCH AS INDIVIDUALS AND NOT AN INSTITUTION
My first published article, as best I can recall, appeared fifty-one years ago in a periodical called Firm Foundation, whose editor Reuel Lemmons was a peacemaker in a fractious brotherhood that glamorized conflict and regarded peacemaking as a cowardly past-time for compromisers and weaklings. According to Jesus, editor Lemmons deserved to be called a child of God, but extremists on both sides called him other names instead and I think that must have made Jesus sad. I called my article "Emphasis Christ," naively thinking that title would be universally agreeable. Within a month the piece was … [Read more...]
A SECOND, SMALLER SERVING OF RANDOM THOUGHTS ON THE CHURCH AS INDIVIDUALS AND NOT AN INSTITUTION
Someone might ask why it matters if the distinction suggested by the title to this gracEmail is valid or not. I suppose that the emotional and logical thinking parts of the brains of many believers are so wired that they are never tempted to ponder such subjects. I have encountered a few folks who apparently are allergic to thoughts of that genre and also to the eccentric (in the literal sense of the word, as a wheel "out of circle") thought processes that produce statements of the kind that got this sentence started. Still, I cannot stop it, don't think I need to, and would not want to do so … [Read more...]