It's no secret that those of us who claim to follow Jesus Christ
consistently fall short of living up to the way of life of our Rabbi.
Being a disciple of Jesus is a lifelong journey towards conforming
ourselves to the image and way of life that Jesus taught. However, so
often, followers of Jesus chose to blatantly ignore some of the clearest
instruction of our Rabbi and obscure it with vague theology so that we
can get off the hook. Other times, followers of Jesus are taught
something explicitly contradictory to the plain words of Jesus and then
spend their lives obeying the instruction they received instead of the
commands of Jesus.
However we end up at the place of disobedience,
all of us who claim to be followers of Jesus struggle to obey the
commands of our Lord. One of the most transformative periods in my faith
was when I took time to re-read the Gospels of the New Testament and
get reacquainted with Jesus' himself, in his own words. As I studied the
words of Jesus, I discovered that so much of what he asks of us as his
disciples is incredibly clear and yet so much of it was new to me. I had
never heard it in church or Sunday school or actually heard someone
teach the exact opposite of the words of Christ. It was during that
season of my life where I took inventory of how I lived and what I
believed and aligned to the person and teachings of Christ that my faith
was radically transformed for the better.
Below I have compiled a
short list of 4 clear teachings of Jesus that most of us who exist
within Evangelicalism have either never heard, refuse to acknowledge, or
believe the exact opposite of. It's my hope that by rereading these
teachings of Christ, you will be inspired, like I have been, to return
to the Gospels and begin to reshape your faith and life around the way
and teachings of our Master, Jesus. Get ready and buckle up, because
most of what Jesus says is pretty bold and potent. It'll shake up your
faith!
1. Jesus, not the Bible, is God's living and active Word that brings life.
"You
don't have His word living in you, because you don't believe the One He
sent. You study the Scriptures because you think you have eternal life
in them, yet they testify about Me. And you are not willing to come to
Me so that you may have life."- John 5:39-40 HCSB
The
Christian life is one that is fundamentally rooted in the reality that
Jesus Christ is living and active. He interacts with us on a day to day
basis and desires that we cultivate an intimate relationship with him.
The more we commune with the Spirit of Christ, the more life and truth
we are exposed to and are able to comprehend. However, for many
Evangelicals, we rely more on the Bible than we do on the living and
active Spirit of God within us. We fear that following the Spirit could
lead to confusion and subjectivity and so we root our faith in the
Bible. The problem is that a faith that is rooted in the Scripture alone
is not sustainable. It will dry up and wither on the vine. While the
Bible is an important and authoritative guide for Christian faith and
practice, it isn't the foundation or center of our faith- Jesus is. And
if we truly believe that he is alive, we should also have faith
that communing with him will produce spiritual life within us. He is
the living Word that we can ask anything to and expect, in faith, to
receive and answer. Sometimes he will speak through Scripture. Other
times he will speak through our friends and family. Other times he will
find unique and special ways to reveal himself to us. But in order to
maintain a vibrant and living faith, we must not make the Bible our
substitute for communion with the living Word of God. Studying Scripture
is valuable, but nowhere near as valuable as cultivating a day to day
relationship with the God incarnate.
2. The only way to enter the Kingdom of Heaven is through DOING the will of God.
"Not
everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of
heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in
heaven." Matthew 7:21 ESV
"An expert in the law stood up
to test Him, saying, "Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal
life?""What is written in the law?" He asked him. "How do you read
it?"He answered: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all
your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your
neighbor as yourself."You've answered correctly," He told him. "Do this
and you will live."- Luke 10: 25-28 HCSB
"We are saved by
faith alone, apart from works!" This is a very popular Protestant catch
phrase. The doctrine of sola fide (faith alone) was developed by the
Reformers in response to the Roman Catholic Churches corrupted teachings
that emerged in the 16th Century teaching that one could gain favor
with God and shave off years in Hell and Purgatory by giving money to
the church or doing acts of penance. The intention of the doctrine of faith alone was
very good- to correct the error that our salvation could be earned or
that God's grace could be manipulated. But like most doctrines that are
formulated in response to another group's doctrine, it often
goes too far. One of the clearest teachings throughout all four Gospel
accounts is that the way to enter the Kingdom of God is through living
in obedience to the Law of Christ. Time and time again, Jesus makes very
clear statements that condemn those who think that they will be saved
because they believe the right things or do the right religious rituals.
Jesus responds to people who believe they are religious and deserve
heaven by saying that their outward religiosity is detestable to God and
the only thing God desires is that they would exercise their faith by
obeying the command of God- to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly.
(Micah 6:8) Jesus says if anyone claims to be right with God but doesn't
serve the poor, needy, oppressed, marginalized, sick, diseased, and
sinful, then they do not have a relationship with God. No matter what
they proclaim with their lips. No matter how religious they may appear.
Jesus says those who don't obey will have no part in his Kingdom. He
makes very clear that the way to "inherit eternal life" is through
loving God and loving our neighbor. Isn't it astonishing, then, how many
Christians today have been taught that salvation comes through right
believing instead of right practice- a message that is fundamentally
contrary to the words of Jesus. (And even more to his little brother
James who says, "You see that a person is justified by works and not by
faith alone." James 2:24 ESV) to be continued.......
No comments:
Post a Comment