How Much Doctrine Do we Need to Believe in order to be Saved?

How much doctrine or theological correctness do we need to be saved? One Facebooker wrote:

• The use of verses [like the belief in the virgin birth] to justify the exclusion of individuals [from salvation] predicated upon somewhat differing theological propositions seems contrived.

“Is salvation a matter of attaining to a certain level of doctrinal purity or correctness? Must we be able to name at least five of the Ten Commandments or six of the twelve Apostles in order to be saved? Can we be saved if we can only name two of the four Gospels?”

If this is the substance of faith and salvation, I can understand why this Facebooker believes that such an understanding of salvation is contrived. Nevertheless, there are so many verses that do seem to equate salvation with theological correctness. For instance, Jesus warned the Pharisees:

• I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins." (John 8:24) 

However, Scripture does not give us a minimum list of verses to believe to guarantee salvation. Instead, the emphasis seems to be upon whether or not we are willing to receive the testimony of Jesus, His Apostles and Scripture:

• We accept man's testimony, but God's testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. (1 John 5:9-13)

The key question is still: “Are we willing to accept the testimony of Scripture?” We are certainly willing to accept human testimony. How much more then should we be willing to accept God’s testimony!

“Well, why should be believe the testimony of Scripture? How do we know that it’s the testimony of God?” John suggests that when we believe this testimony, we are acknowledging a compelling voice that wells up within us from the center of our being (1 John 5:10). However, John doesn’t stop there. We are not limited to an internal and intuitive testimony. It also is a matter of eyewitness testimony to confirmatory miracles (1 John 5:13):

• That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched--this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. (1 John 1:1-3) 

“What is faith? Is it mental precision regarding the teachings of Jesus or the Bible or is it receiving His testimony which will eventually grow into greater theological precision?” If theological precision saved us, this would leave out children and many who are presently unable to achieve such intellectual attainments. Instead, it is simple. It is a matter of receiving Jesus and His Spirit. However, Jesus promised that this simple step would become a fountain of wisdom:

• "Everyone who drinks this [well] water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." (John 4:13-14)

Growing in understanding and wisdom is a process initiated by that initial drink from the testimony of God:

• To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." (John 8:31-32) 

“Must we believe in the Trinity or the virgin birth in order to be saved?” It is not that these beliefs cause salvation. Instead, they indicate that we have received the testimony of God, the Gospel of salvation.

Shane Claiborne and Minimizing Doctrine

Shane Claiborne is the co-founder of The Simple Way, a ministry that is attempting to take Jesus’ teachings into his Philadelphia community. In an interview carried by ALife of the Christian Missionary Alliance, he states that, according to the Sermon on the Mount:

• We are to love our enemy…we’re not to worry about tomorrow. It would flip the world upside down if we really read the Sermon on the Mount and tried to live as if Jesus meant it.

Although much of what Jesus taught shouldn’t be taken literally – He taught us to figuratively pluck out our eyes and cut off our hands and even to “hate our parents" – Claiborne is correct that there is much that Jesus taught that the church has largely ignored to our detriment. Claiborne is probably also correct that our failure to love others as we ought has served to marginalize the church in the Western world.

However, much of Claiborne’s rhetoric is troubling:

• Jesus says at the Judgment all of us will be gathered before God and asked a few questions as we give an account for our lives. The questions are not doctrinal – “Virgin Birth: agree or disagree?” “Creation or evolution: did it really happen in seven days?” According to Jesus we will be asked, “When I was hungry, did you feed me?” “When I was a stranger, did you welcome me?” “When I was in prison, did you visit me?” The real test of our faith is how it works itself out in love and compassion.

Claiborne is correct that real faith “works itself out in love and compassion,” as James affirmed:

• But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder. You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? (James 2:18-20) 

A faith that fails to produce obedience is a faith that isn’t real – a faith that doesn’t save. However, a real faith is also one that has content. A changed heart that produces faith also illuminates Biblical truths. According to John, a real faith has the anointing of the Spirit, which teaches us all the things that we need to know (1 John 2:20, 27). One of them is the truth about Jesus:

• My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. (John 10:27-28)

Consequently, if faith doesn’t include certain truths, it is not a saving faith. Saving faith must perceive that Jesus is the Savior – and this is what He requires:

• “I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins." (John 8:24)

When asked about the “work” that had to be performed in order to be saved, Jesus answered:

• "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent." (John 6:29)

However, Claiborne maintains that judgment has little or nothing to do with doctrine:

• Jesus says at the Judgment all of us will be gathered before God and asked a few questions as we give an account for our lives. The questions are not doctrinal – “Virgin Birth: agree or disagree?”

Instead, it seems that faith, and not works, is the key to salvation:

• "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

• "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” (John 5:24)

This is certainly not to dismiss or minimize our responsibility to follow Jesus. However, following Jesus is the fruit of believing and being born from above:

• For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day…No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. (John 6:40-44)

In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus taught that bearing fruit must be preceded by the seed of the Word of God:

• But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown." (Matthew 13:23)

Hearing and understanding the Gospel must precede the crop! As there cannot be any harvest without the planting of seeds, there cannot be any spiritual growth without understanding the Word. There are many reasons for this:

Without faith it is impossible to please God. The Book of Hebrews explains why:

• Because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)

Clearly, there are certain beliefs that are essential to a relationship with God. The rest of the chapter then demonstrates how faith served as the engine to produce good works. It was by faith that Noah built the ark and condemned the world (Heb. 11:7-8)

Without the teachings of the Bible, we do not know how to love and to be the light to society. Without understanding the teachings of Jesus in the light of the rest of the Bible, we cannot follow Him. For many, adultery equates with love. For others, the welfare state represents a form of love. The communists believed that their revolution was an expression of love. However, it seems that such “love” has done more to undermine the family and entire communities than it has benefited them.

Good deeds, without a changed heart and Gospel knowledge, inevitably produce arrogance and self righteousness. I have seen so many who have unselfishly sacrificed for others who have developed an entitlement mentality. They subsequently feel entitled to look down on others because they have now become more worthy. In one parable, Jesus demonstrated how the self-righteousness of the Pharisee enabled him to look down on others (Luke 18:9-12; also 7:47).

A good-deeds-mentality tends to give us the wrong idea – that we are deserving. However, Jesus taught that this was the last thing we should think (Luke 17:10). Instead, the only two people Jesus praised were Gentiles who displayed an incredible understanding of their unworthiness (Mat. 8; 15).

Without faith – growing in the knowledge of God – we will not be grateful, an essential quality to serving Christ. Instead, we have to know and remember from where we have come in order to be grateful as a motivation to produce good deeds:

• At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures…But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy…I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. (Titus 3:3-8)

We are what we believe. If I hadn't believed that I was forgiven (1 John 1:9) and totally cleared of all of my sin (Rom. 8:1), I would have remained a dysfunctional mess.

Most importantly, without the Gospel, we cannot be saved. Therefore, Claiborne’s emphasis on a judgment based exclusively on works is, at best, unbalanced. In place of this simple assurance or grace, Claiborne insists that judgment will be based exclusively on works - did I show enough hospitality? Did I feed the hungry often enough? The consequences of this thinking will lead in either of two directions. Either we will become arrogant, thinking that we have performed better than 95% of the church, or we will be morbidly self-conscious and depressed, knowing that we have consistently failed to live up to the example of Jesus (1 Peter 1:15).

While it is true that the fruit of our lives (good works) is relevant to the final judgment, this is only because our fruit reflects something far more important - our faith (who we are before the Lord). As apples reflect the apple tree that bore them, our fruits reflect our changed status before God, and this is the most important thing!

Claiborne’s understanding of judgment is superficial. It focuses on works and not the changed heart that produces them. Although a number of verses do associate judgment with works, these works are significant because they reveal the state of the heart:

• "I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve." (Jeremiah 17:10)

Our deeds reveal the more important question of the heart and the mind. For our Lord, it is the tree (the heart of faith, the heart that clings to Him) that has priority over the resultant fruit. Consequently, if we are His – and this is the main issue - we will follow Him, however imperfectly.

Believing and following are inseparable. Therefore, if we are judged by what we do, ultimately, we are judged by the renewed heart that enables us to do.

Claiborne claims that his outreach to his Philadelphia community has “been fun.” There’s nothing the matter with fun, but what happens when the fun stops. We are instructed to not weary of doing good (Gal. 6:9). This is because good deeds can become wearying. They loose their psychological payoff.

What will happen to Claiborne and the rest of the Emergent Church when they become weary? Will they have the theological roots to keep them on course, or will they simply dry up when the hot sun scorches their ground?

Who is the Real Science-Stopper?

While evolutionists claim that the belief in God is a science-stopper, Albert Einstein thought otherwise:

• I want to know how God created this world.

For Einstein, the belief in God was a science-cheerleader! This belief promised that the incredible artifacts of observed design will be matched by the design and intelligence that we don’t yet observe! It represents the uncovering of buried secrets and points to a supremely endowed universe! In other words, we would expect that the studying of the creation will be richly rewarded.

Let’s contrast this with a faith in naturalism – the belief that the appearance of design and uniformity just happens naturally out of a chaotic nothingness. No intelligence or purpose involved! This has to be a science-stopper. After all, who is motivated to learn more about chaos and nothingness that underlie all reality? Not a very appealing occupation to base one’s life upon! To use an analogy, what would you rather devote your life to study – the workings of intelligence or a series of numbers generated randomly by a computer?

I think that the choice is easy!

The Zimmerman Trial and the Church

In the wake of the Zimmerman trial, I am grieving. For me, the main issue isn’t the outcome of the trial but what it reveals about us – the church. We are deeply divided, and our differing opinions are sincere and passionately held. The division is so deep that we find that we cannot even talk about them, but talk we must!

Our unity as brothers and sisters in our Lord must and do transcend our differences. We have to strive for this unity, as Paul insisted:

·        Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. (Ephes. 4:2-4)

How do we “keep [our] unity?” According to Paul, the emphasis must be on the Gospel:

·        It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. (Ephes. 4:11-13)

However, speaking the Gospel is not merely the work of the professionals:

·        Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. (Ephes. 4:15)

However, our growth and unity are stunted because we are not speaking to one another. We remain with our own kind and have allowed the media to co-opt the conversation.

Please pray with me that our Lord will pour out upon us a zeal for His concerns and that, above all else, we would seek – more than even our own welfare - that He would be glorified in the midst of His church.

Brian McLaren and Skepticism on Steroids

 

Pastor Brian McLaren reflects the skepticism of the Emergent Church. He claims that, among other things, we cannot ever be certain about our interpretation of Scripture:

• How do “I” know the Bible is always right? And if “I” am sophisticated enough to realize that I know nothing of the Bible without my own involvement via interpretation, I’ll also ask how I know which school, method, or technique of biblical interpretation is right. What makes a “good” interpretation good? And if an appeal is made to a written standard (book, doctrinal statement, etc.) or to common sense or to “scholarly principles of interpretation,” the same pesky “I” who liberated us from the authority of the church will ask, “Who sets the standard? Whose common sense? Which scholars and why? Don’t all these appeals to authorities and principles outside the Bible actually undermine the claim of ultimate biblical authority? Aren’t they just the new pope^? 

McLaren inflates the problems of interpretation, claiming that we can’t really interpret with any degree of certainty without first having a proven method of interpretation.

However, a little common sense plus a handful of experience might shed some light on this “problem.” We engage in easy-to-understand conversation all the time, without a proven system of interpretation. When I ask the attendant to pump me $20 of “regular,” he knows exactly what to do. No confusion; no need for a proven method of interpretation! Why should it be any different when interpreting the Bible?

When I read the “50 mph hour” speed limit sign on the highway, I’d like to believe that it means “65 mph.” However, I know what it means. In fact, this interpretation is further corroborated when the highway patrol tickets me for doing “65.” Interpretation doesn’t pose any significant problems.

Likewise, we have numerous ways to corroborate our interpretation of Scripture. Any one verse has many corroborating verses. We call this “Scripture interpreting Scripture.” Of course, some passages can be difficult to understand (2 Peter 3:15), but this doesn’t mean that much of it isn’t quite plain. Besides, we have many aids – pastors, teachers, commentaries, concordances - to help us understand.

Scripture was also written to be understood. Therefore, Paul instructed that his epistles be taken to other churches and read. Never did Paul insist that a Doctor of Theology be present to provide the definitive interpretation.

There was never any indication that any of the Apostles ever suggested that their listeners first required a proven system of interpretation before they could understand their message. Had McLaren instead written that much of Scripture presents us with interpretative difficulties, many of us would agree. However, he is skeptical about all interpretive conclusions. If only he was equally skeptical about his own conclusion!

Today, it has become fashionable to believe that we cannot be sure of anything regarding the biblical faith, perhaps apart from the requirement to love. McLaren rhetorically asks, “How do ‘I’ know the Bible is always right?” suggesting that none of us can know. One noted theologian wrote:

• Any worldview—atheist, Islamic, Jewish, Christian or whatever—ultimately depends on assumptions that cannot be proved. Every house is built on foundations, and the foundations of worldviews are not ultimately capable of being proved in every respect. Everyone who believes anything significant or worthwhile about the meaning of life does so as a matter of faith. We’re all in the same boat.

However, such a stance is logically self-defeating. If it is true that we believe as we do simply based on blind and baseless faith, then this above statement is also a matter of blind faith, and therefore it disqualifies itself.

More importantly, the Bible disqualifies it! Many verses contend that evidence serves as an incontestable basis for faith:

• Then the LORD said to Moses: "How long will these people reject Me? And how long will they not believe Me, with all the signs which I have performed among them (Numbers 14:11)?

• After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. (Acts 1:3)

God does not tell His people to “just believe.” Instead He has provided many unassailable proofs for our faith. This doesn’t mean that we don’t struggle with doubts and uncertainties. Nor does it mean that these struggles are opposed to the faith and must be suppressed. Nor does it mean that God cannot bring great good out of such struggles. He certainty does!

However, Emergents place too much emphasis on the journey and the search and minimal emphasis on the object or end of the search – certainty and assurance regarding God’s truth claims. Emergents normalize and idealize the journey at the expense of the cognitive rest at the end of the journey.

Faith had been such a struggle for me – someone weak in faith and rich in skepticism. It tormented me that I couldn’t find the peace in believing, which others seemed to have found. I therefore would have welcomed the Emergent message that certainty isn’t possible. It would have given me a sense of peace in knowing that I was okay and not a “Christian” misfit. Fortunately, I found little encouragement that skepticism would be my ultimate “resting place.”

Instead, I learned that joyously living the Christian life is not possible without a high degree of certainty. I needed to know that God loved me with a love that transcended understanding (Eph. 3:16-19) and that He had forgiven and cleansed me from all of my sins. I needed the God-confidence often mentioned in Scripture:

• Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. (Hebrews 10:19-22) 

We require confidence in order to draw close to our Savior and to know that He has drawn close to us. As long as I doubted His love, I could not feel grateful towards Him. Instead, I felt contempt for Him, not knowing with certainty that He truly loved me.  And whenever I felt condemned by my feelings, I felt that God was also condemning me. I needed to know that He wasn’t condemning me and that my feelings were only that –feelings. And that is the very place where Scripture comforted me:

• Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:1)

I therefore can totally embrace Paul’s prayer for the church:

• I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸ may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,  and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (Eph. 3:17-19)

Having the knowledge of God and His love for us isn’t an option. Without this knowledge, we will not be “filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Without this confidence, we will not be able to persevere:

• So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. (Heb. 10:35-36; Jer. 7:7)

Without confidence in the promises of God, I wasn’t able to persevere. Even having this confidence, I struggle. However, without it, I couldn’t even begin to struggle.

Paul associated rejoicing with knowing:

• We also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance. (Rom. 5:3)

Without this knowledge - this confidence - we cannot glory in suffering. We can only glory in the midst of suffering because we are confident that God has a glorious purpose for it (Rom. 8:28). Lacking this confidence, I suffered additionally from obsessive and crippling ruminations.

Also, without confidence in Scripture and the fact that we can reliably interpret it, we will not continue with it. Instead, it’s inevitable that we will embrace another source of authority or meaning and become indistinguishable from the surrounding culture. In McLaren’s latest book, A New Kind of Christianity, he poignantly shows us the consequences of his skepticism towards Scripture:

• I need to say again that nowhere in the Hebrew Scriptures do I find anything as horrible as Theos [God].  Yes, I find a character named God who sends a flood that destroys all humanity except for Noah’s family, but that’s almost trivial compared to a deity who tortures the greater part of humanity forever in infinite eternal conscious torment.

How then can we grow in confidence regarding and God’s promises? I can tell you how our Savior slowly and painfully grew me. However, I think it is better to remind you of a simple principle – we can’t do it on our own! I used to think that I could maintain and unilaterally grow my faith. However, He has shown me that I can’t. Instead, He must do the grunge work in our lives:

• This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Peter 1:4-5)

• Such confidence we have through Christ before God.  Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. (2 Cor. 3:4-5; John 15:4-5)

I wish I could boast that my faith will never fail me, but it does and it will. Consequently, my hope is in God alone to keep and restore me. I praise His holy Name!

The Hyper-Grace Gospel vs. the Need to Confess and Repent

Some pastors are preaching an unbiblical, “hyper-grace” message. Theologian Michael Brown summarizes it this way:

• ·        One of the foundational doctrines of the hyper-grace message is that God does not see the sins of his children, since we have already been made righteous by the blood of Jesus and since all of our sins, past, present and future, have already been forgiven. That means that the Holy Spirit never convicts believers of sin, that believers never need to confess their sins to God, and that believers never need to repent of their sins, since God sees them as perfect in his sight. 

It also means that there is no reason to confront professing believers with their sins. However, this avoidance is not Scriptural. There are many verses that directly call us to judge and to confront sin. Jesus certainly taught this, even regarding the brethren:

·         “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over.” (Mat. 1815)

According to Jesus, unrepented sin is so serious that, if not resolved, it should come before the entire church. If not resolved there, the unrepentant one should be put out of the church until he repents.

This hardly needs saying, since there are many verses that require us to correct the brethren (James 5:20; Gal. 6:1-3). Peter confronted his brethren, Ananias and Saphira, regarding their lies. Sin is so serious that God took their lives (Acts 5) as a result. Paul explained that because some brethren had taken the Lord’s Supper in an “unworthy manner,”

·         Many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep [died]. (1 Cor. 11:30)

Sin is a great offense to our Lord. Peter expressed the Lord’s consternation to Simon – the Book of Acts claims that he had believed - after he had merely asked to purchase a spiritual gift from the Lord:

·         Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God.  Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart.  For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.” (Acts 8:20-23)

Interestingly, instead of telling Peter off, Simon responded positively:

·         Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me.” (Acts 8:24)

We tend to regard the sin-focus as something negative, and so it is noteworthy that Simon seemed to respond appropriately.

However, Peter’s response raises a key controversy. For the hyper-grace camp - they claim that since Christ has forgiven us once-and-for-all (Heb. 8:12; 10:14) - sin is no longer an issue. However, according to Peter, it was very much an issue with Simon. Peter directed him to “repent of this wickedness” so that God “may forgive you.” Evidently, sin still is an issue along with forgiveness.

This is not an easy theological issue. For one thing, Scripture often talks about our sin as if it has been utterly resolved. The Book of Hebrews, citing Jeremiah’s revelation about the New Covenant (Jer. 31:31-34), claims that forgiveness is a done-deal, an eternally settled matter:

·         “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” (Heb. 8:12)

·         For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy…Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” (Heb. 10:14, 17; Rom. 8:1)

According to these verses and others, the price for our sins has been completely paid on the cross, and therefore, there is no longer a basis for any charges against us (Col. 2:14; Eph. 2:15). How then can we require anything further – confession, repentance or even obedience – from those who have been eternally forgiven!

There are also many other considerations that seem to bolster this hyper-grace message. Along with forgiveness, there are also many other aspects of our salvation that seem to be matters that have been eternally and decisively settled. For one thing, we are already in possession of eternal life:

• “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.” (John 5:24; 3:16)

However, this isn’t the entire picture. It also seems that eternal life is granted gradually through a process:

• Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses…In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. (1 Tim. 6:12, 19) 

This seems like a contradiction. Either we are already in possession of eternal life or we’re not and, consequently, have to work to obtain it. We find this same tension in Scripture’s discussion of  “salvation.” On the one hand, we have already been saved, while other verses indicate that we are being saved:

• Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers. (1 Tim. 4:16)

Paul seems to be writing to Timothy as if he is not already, thoroughly saved, yet he assures Titus that we already have been saved:

• He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. (Titus 3:5)

Is there any way to reconcile these verses? On the one hand, salvation and eternal life are settled matters. They are settled in heaven, even before the creation of the world (2 Tim. 1:9-10). However, from a material perspective, there is work that has to be done by our Lord to prepare us for our inheritance. It is like being an heir to a fortune. The fortune is guaranteed, but certain provisions or steps must be taken before the heir can receive it. Already, we are co-heirs with Christ (Rom. 8:17), but we haven’t yet received all that has been promised.

We observe this same principle at play in other areas. While we have already been redeemed by the blood of Christ (Eph. 1:7), we are still awaiting redemption:

• “We ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.” 

Although we have already been redeemed, we are still awaiting the “redemption of our bodies.” Likewise, although we have already been adopted as sons (Gal. 4:6-7; Rom. 8:16-17), we continue to await the fullness of adoption and all that has been promised in this regards.

How does this “already but not yet” principle pertain to forgiveness? The same way! While we have already been forgiven (Luke 7:47; Col. 1:13; 2:13), forgiveness is also a process and a necessary part of our Christian life.

Throughout our earthly lives, Jesus and His Spirit intercede for us (Rom. 8:26; 8:34; Heb. 7:25; 1 John 2:1). This suggests that even though forgiveness has been utterly accomplished on the cross, it must still be applied to our lives.

Forgiveness is applied, not only through intercession but also through confession of our sins. In order to be forgiven, confession is mandatory:

• If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:8-9)

How can confession be mandatory, if our sins have already been totally forgiven? Although the issue of forgiveness has been utterly settled from a divine perspective, it still needs to be applied in the material world as a necessary part of the process. We are heirs, but the transfer of our inheritance requires preparation.

We encounter this very same “dilemma” as we contemplate our eternal security in Christ. On the one hand, it is guaranteed (Rom. 8:38-39). On the other hand, we must endure to the end in faith, as many verses indicate (Mat. 10:22; Col. 1:22-23; Heb. 3:14; 6:11-12). Can we be confident that we are going to be saved in the end in light of these conditional verses? Absolutely! How can this be? Our Lord’s work – His process – is guaranteed:

• Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus!!! (Phil. 1:6; Rom. 8:28)

Many aspects of our lives are unsettled, but our Lord’s work is not! What He has determined, He will do! What He has promised, He will keep!

This brings us to a final and troubling verse about the need to forgive. If we don’t forgive, we will not be forgiven as our Lord warned:

• “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

This makes salvation and forgiveness seem very conditional. However, once again, our Lord guarantees the process. He will work in us to convict us, chasten us, and to bring us to forgiveness. As John assures us:

• No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. (1 John 3:9; 3:3; 5:18)

Consequently, we will not continue in unforgiveness. Our Lord will make it absolutely repugnant to us.

The hyper-grace folks understand the heavenly, eternal perspective. However, they have ignored the earthly, material perspective or process. As a result, they ignore Jesus’ warning against the price of unforgiveness. They ignore John’s assertion that God’s children will not continue in the practice of sin and the absolute necessity to confess our sins to receive forgiveness and cleansing. Consequently, the hyper-grace people preach a highly defective message.

Thinking Rightly about God

What we think and believe are so central to our lives, affecting the way we feel, act, and how we relate to others. More than anything else, our beliefs about God are determinative. Just consider the words of God through the Prophet Jeremiah:

·         This is what the Lord says: “Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches, but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the Lord. (Jer. 9:23-24).

For instance, if we do not know that God is kind to us, we might believe that every misfortune is for the delight of a sadistic god. Such a belief will transform our entire life and the way we treat others. If God is sadistic, then there is no reason why we shouldn’t be sadistic!

It is important to understand our hardships from the point view of a God who loves us so that He is working every painful circumstance for good (Rom. 8:28) to make us more like Jesus (2 Cor. 4:10-11).

Instead, we have a perverse tendency to think that God is trying to make us sin through the hardships. The Book of James tries to correct this tragic thinking:

·         When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. (James 1:13-15)

For God to coerce us to sin is “evil,” according to James. He insists that God is above such a thing. There is no evil in Him! Yes, God brings hardships and hardships heighten temptations. However, God’s purposes aren’t evil, and He does not coerce us to sin. Instead, His purposes are loving and righteous. He wants us to see our sin and to humble us in the process.

God certainly allowed me to get stuck in the traffic-jam, and this tempted me to get angry. God even knew that I’d get angry and sin. However, he meant this for good to humble me and to make me more like Jesus. Nevertheless, despite God’s intentions and knowledge that I would sin, it was still I who sinned!

Moses had explained to Israel how this humbling process was necessary:

·         Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order [for you] to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.  He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. (Deut. 8:2-3)

God had humbled Israel for their own good so that they’d cling to His every word! However, He didn’t cause them to sin. Instead, Israel had to take responsibility their sins, confess them, to repent and return to their God. God intended that Israel would be so humbled that they would no longer trust in themselves and their own judgment but instead trust in God’s Word! There could be no humbling if Israel had been convinced that it was God who caused them to sin and rebel. Instead, this belief would just cause bitterness! I too am humbled by my failures, not by a failure imposed upon me!

Likewise, James counsels us to take full responsibility for our sins rather than to say, “God made me do it.” We do this in many ways. We might say, “The devil made me do it” or “The Fall deprived me of my freewill and moral responsibility. Therefore, I am not guilty.” Others justify themselves by claiming, “God made me this way. So it must be okay!” Others stake their defense on nurture or nature:

·         “This is just the way I am,” or “I was traumatized as a child.”

Although these excuses might contain some truth, they do not relieve us of the responsibility for our behavior. James places the onus entirely on us:

·         Each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. (James 1:14)

To believe otherwise usually means relying on a defective understanding of God – “God made me do it!” While blaming God for our misfortunes and failures might feel good temporarily, in the long run, it creates alienation from both God and society.

If we do not learn to accept full responsibility for our lives, we will not succeed anywhere – on the job, in the marriage, raising our children, or with God. The only way that my wife and I can be restored is through truth – the full acceptance of our responsibility for wrong-doing and confession.

This is just one illustration of how important it is to think correctly about God and also ourselves. However, this same principle can be applied to every doctrine of the Bible:

·         Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him... (2 Peter 1:2-3)

We need to pray that God will teach us to think correctly, especially about Him!