Healthy Questions

In Part 1 we looked at the question of what it means to be dead in sin. We finished with the sober realization that man, of himself, is detestable to God. Sin permeates him to the very core. I want to briefly ponder an important implication of this for a moment. While We Were Yet Sinners Considering how vile we were in the eyes of God, it is astonishing that He did anything at all for us. In Romans 5:7 Paul states that we ourselves might be willing to offer our life in exchange for someone else's - although we would be extremely selective in whom to die for. We might die for our wife, our children, or a very honorable person, but we most certainly wouldn't see the point in giving up our life for someone we didn't like, or someone that hated us - let alone a violent criminal. However, this is exactly what God has done. What He did, He did for the ungodly (v6, 4:5), for those who were yet sinners (v8), for those who considered God a hated enemy (v10.) Jesus hung on the cross...

Part 1 - Rotten to the Core "And you were dead in your trespasses and sins," (Ephesians 2:1) What does it mean to be dead in sin? What causes such death? By what means can a person be made alive? These aren't easy questions, and the concept of spiritual death is strange to us. I'll try and tackle each question separately, beginning with what it means to be dead. Under Sin & No Good Reformed doctrine speaks of "Total Depravity" - a potentially misleading term necessitated by the acronym "TULIP." Sproul prefers "radical (or core) corruption." That is to say, "That sin penetrates to the root or core of our being. Sin is not tangential or peripheral, but arises from the center of our being." (Sproul, What is Reformed Theology? ) "...we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin ; as it is written, “There is none righteous, not even one; There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; Al...

A couple of weeks ago a good friend asked me what I made of John 15, specifically these verses: "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit." (John 15:2) "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned." (John 15:6) Do these verses indicate that those who are "in Christ" may ultimately end up in hell? Allegory Alert Proposition: If "in Me" is to be born-again, and being "taken away" and "cast into the fire and burned" represents eternal punishment, then this passage clearly speaks to believers that become unsaved. Clearly, this view hinges on what Jesus means by being "in Me." Before we discuss that, however, a warning is needed: Allegory Alert! Yes, that's right, this is a symbolic representation, a visual aid. After le...

This question was raised by a friend who was reading Revelation 3:5: "‘He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels." He's done his own research, but I wanted to think it through for myself. What is the big deal about this verse? Well, if God erases peoples' names from the "book of life" then it can be said that salvation may be lost. This shatters the notion of "once saved, always saved" and makes salvation always at risk, always hinging on each man's actions. Therefore this is a critical question; it touches on a fundamental issue of the Christian faith. I won't deal with the larger context, but rather just focus on the book of life and possibility of being erased from it. (If you're unclear on the purpose of the book of life, take a look at Revelation 20.) So, starting with Revelation 3:5. A plain readin...

We were just finishing our bedtime prayers last night, when my seven year old little girl asked me, “Daddy, if God knew that people would be bad, why did he make Eden and everything?” Passing the Test Sometimes parenthood can get real interesting, real fast. You’re tired… you’re ready to finish up your own day – and you are unexpectedly asked to give an account for God’s actions in the history of men. We had just read a few pages of “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” and with that in mind I responded with, “Because God wants the story to play out… He wants to see all of history happen.” I then held my breath to see if this would pass muster. I can’t imagine many situations being as tough as this; I felt like a candidate before a confirmation hearing, or a student in a national spelling bee final: I had given my answer to a complex question, and must now await the verdict. My daughter’s approval of my answer was evident in the fact that she moved on to a completely different subject. Trus...

A friend asked me a question last week that I had to admit I couldn't answer: What does Scripture mean when it says Christ is interceding for us? What is He doing? The greater part of my confusion on this matter comes from a misunderstanding of the word "intercede." I have always associated this word with prayer, and so when I hear the Word say that Jesus "always lives to make intercession for us" (Heb 7:25) I immediately conclude that Jesus is in heaven praying for me all the time. I remember that Jesus prayed to His Father for His followers in the "High Priestly Prayer" (Jn 17), so this is at least conceivable. It does introduce another matter in which I have little understanding, which is why Christ prays to God… but I'm not opening that can of worms just yet. I think I can avoid that because, with a little study, I can conclude that Christ's heavenly intercession for us is not primarily about Him praying. Intercession Defined Here are ...

The study guide I am using for Ephesians contains the following question: The New Testament repeatedly calls the message of God’s offer of grace to sinners through the substitutionary death of Christ the “gospel” or “good news”. When we hear good news, we want to share it spontaneously with everyone we meet. For example, think of getting a raise, finding out you’re going to have a baby, and so forth. Yet many believers in Christ are reluctant to communicate their faith with others. They seem complacent about this staggering promise of salvation from sin and death through Christ. Why is this so? Thinking about this, I came up with three reasons. Firstly: Weak Faith …or, a lack of appreciation, understanding and love for Christ and all that He accomplished for us. When we barely understand the gospel ourselves we have little to tell anyone else. When we don’t see the exceeding sinfulness of our sin, the rightness of God in condemning us, the personal cost He paid to redeem us, and the pu...