Hey - heavy argument....
Submitted by Forgiven on July 23 2000 04:17:48
In reply to Re: Hmm - a dangerous argument (Yes, but..) submitted by Chris on July 23 2000 01:09:00
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To start, let's agree we do share the belief that it is only by God's grace that we are justifed before God. The alternative belief, that we can get there by our own efforts is a dangerous mistake But the real basis for this discussion is to look further at how Paul develops his argument in Romans. Having gone on at length about how it is only by grace that we are saved, he then, in Chapter 6 makes its clear that there is no alternative to continuing to make the effort to live according to God's standards - "Let not sin rule in your bodies", "Do not yield your members to sin as instruments of wickedness" etc etc. If that is not about making an effort to resist temptation, I'm a complete failure at interpretation. :-) Let's try and take a step back and try and see the broader picture that I am reacting to; whether (or where!) you fit in this scene will be for you to decide. There are two common and opposite mistakes that Christians can make - licence and legalism. Both are equal failure to live the life of the kingdom of God. The church in the early 20th century was heavily into legalism - as exemplied by its dire decision to support the total ban on alcohol in both America and Britain - and inevitably God worked to bring a new move of His Spirit to bring a new experience of Him to His people. (Note however the response of the church to the threat of paedophiles in its midst is usually classically legalistic, which sadly goes to show that we haven't really learnt the lessons yet!) This new move of God's spirit involved a move away from the rigid rules of those times - but there is always a tendency to go too far - as exemplied by the statement of someone like Bishop Spong that "The church shouldn't worry about what bits of themselves people are putting into one another". This is as equally sub Christian as the other approach... Much of the problem is actually that we don't make the effort to build real relationships with other Christians. We all - not just us boylovers - need to be part of a small group that is able to ask us how things really are going. In that context the hard questions, about how far our lives are really the "Living sacrifice" to God that they should be, can be asked. Let's try and summarise: 1) Jesus died on the cross to open the way back to God. This route is available to all. 2) All Christians are only on that road because of the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives 3) We are called to "Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire and covetousness, which is idolatry" Col 3 v5 I accept there is a tension between 2 and 3 in thoery - but in practice the duty of Christians is clear. Which doesn't make it easy! But the call of Jesus is to "Take up your cross" - not "Have an easy life". Does that help? |
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