Growing in Grace

I recently found some of my old essays that I wrote to get into Moody during my senior year of high school, and it was quite eye-opening. To be honest, as I read them I was a little shocked. I realized very quickly what a moralist I was (and of course, still am). But it's not as if through my time in Chicago I've somehow "arrived," as it were. Through reading this, I learned how sickly moralistic I'd made holiness and how Jesus was absent from all of my theology. Everything revolved around "what I do," rather than "what Jesus has done."

Here's some snippets torn from various essays. Hopefully you can feel the deep moralism that had invaded my Christian faith. Reading this was both a joyous moment (because I see how far Christ has brought me) and a sobering moment (to realize just how prone I am to falling back into that trap):

"I believe that Christians are to be holy and blameless in their actions (Col. 1:22), and that by doing this they won't lose their witness to people around them." Wrong. I am included in Jesus Christ (18 year old Matt hadn't read the previous verse), therefore he has made me holy and blameless:

And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

"Prayer is my first action when I wake up and before I sleep at night." Lie.

"I also feel that the world has demented these things (dancing, alcohol, tobacco) into temptations for Christians and that it is best that in most cases Christians stay away from them." - Yikes. Can you feel the separatism? I didn't believe that God had made all things good, and those he has chosen to be saved now are able to enjoy these things just as God intended them to be. It's not as if we must run from these things merely because many people have distorted and twisted God's design for them; rather, Christians are to enjoy them how God intended, and thus show the glory and satisfaction in worshiping Jesus.

There's much more I'm sure, but just wanted to share a joyous moment in which I realized what a self-righteous religious freak I was. God is slowly dragging me kicking and screaming from that life, and little by little (as I see the beauty and absolute joy of a grace-filled life), the kicks are being stilled and the screams are fading out... The gospel of Jesus is one of grace, a story in which the God, the author, gets all the glory, and we his characters get all the joy.

We Need Lifeguards

I just realized today that although I think this blog is helpful to begin to stir thoughts about theology, life, etc... I was reminded on Sunday by my pastor that oftentimes we need lifeguards when it comes to this sort of stuff. I don't want our questions or thought-provoking discussions to lead any of us to believe or affirm any unsound doctrine.

My deepest recommendation is that you think on theological issues while reading and consulting the Bible, in addition to asking godly pastors and elders in your church for guidance as well. Probably the worst thing we could do from reading and writing this blog is to make our own attempt to "invent the wheel" theologically. Historically, that's ignorant and plain stupidity. Go ahead, dive in the deep end, but enroll in seminary and get in a local church that will surround you with lifeguards.

Weddings?

Random thought:

According to Ephesians 5, isn't a wedding (for a Christian) merely a declaration of the gospel? Isn't it a confession that Jesus is our head, and we are his body (literally), and that we are devoting ourselves to humbly imaging that for our entire lives?

Seems like weddings were meant to be a lot less about us, and a lot more about Jesus Christ and his bride, the church. Isn't that the ultimate reality?

Thoughts?

Credited with Righteousness

“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Cor. 5:21

While on the topic of justification, I thought I would write about my favorite thing I learned this semester in Systematic Theology II with Dr. Zuber. The doctrine of soteriology by far took longer than any other subject did this semester and that was largely due to his extensive lectures on justification.

However, I didn’t mind this, because the way he presented justification, and specifically the fact that we receive Christ's righteousness, not only thoroughly explained it to me for the first time, but my heart was extremely touched. So, what does it mean to be justified through Christ?

Basically, justification is the legal declaration of the righteousness of a Christ-follower, by God. Much more could be said in order to explain justification, but due to the clarity and brevity of Philip Eveson’s definition in his book Justification by Faith Alone (as presented by Dr. Zuber), I give you his: “Justification is a legal pronouncement made by God, in the present, prior to the day of judgment, declaring sinners to be not guilty and therefore to be acquitted by pardoning all their sins, and reckoning them to be righteous in His sight, on the basis of Christ as their representative and their substitute, whose righteousness in life and death is put to their account when in self-despairing trust (faith) they look to Him alone for salvation.”

Something important to understand is that through justification, we are credited with righteousness, we are not made righteous (Gen. 15:6). We are declared as righteous because we are imputed with Christ’s righteousness. Justification is also not just the forgiveness of sins; the main point is the legal declaration of our right-standing with God, because of Christ.

So what does being imputed or credited with righteousness look like?
This is the picture that Dr. Zuber gave us, and this is what touched my heart deeply. He said to think of it as if when we are standing before God, with Christ standing in between us and God. Further, he is looking the Father in the eyes, waving His nail scarred arms and hands, sincerely and genuinely saying, “Look at me, look at my righteousness, look at my scars, look at my sacrifice, don’t look at him/her behind me. Just look at me. See my righteousness and see it in him/her. She/he has my righteous blood.”

This is an incredible picture of justification, which none of us could ever even begin to deserve. To think that Christ’s righteousness is credited to us breaks my heart yet simultaneously fills it with unspeakable joy.

Practically and personally, this has caused me to be grateful to Christ in a whole new perspective. I am so humbled to know that He claims His righteousness for His followers. I pray now, recognizing with greater depth than before, that Christ is our medium to God, and He lets us come forth as righteous followers of Him.

Rom. 8:29-34.

Blessings.

The Justification of Jesus

Here's a fascinating discussion: Did Jesus need to be justified?

If we truly believe that Jesus was condemned in his death on the cross, and further that he "bore our sins in his body on the tree..." (1 Peter 2:24) doesn't that mean that Jesus was sin (2 Cor. 5:21)? Doesn't that mean that Jesus, who literally became sin in place of us, needed to be justified (and sanctified)? Just wondering if anyone has some thoughts?

Have you thought of this? Have you considered what it means that Jesus bore our sins in his body? If it's true that Jesus needed to be justified, what does that mean for us in our justification (since believers are "in Christ")?

Leave that to the Theologians

If I had a nickel for every time I heard "We'll just leave that to the theologians," I would probably have at least a dollar. But the thought behind that phrase is actually pervading our culture more and more. We like to separate theology from our everyday life. We like to be spiritual on Sunday morning, and secular on Monday morning.

The authors of this blog want to fiercely fight against that idea. Everyone is a theologian. Theology is, at its core, the study of God. Everyone has an opinion on God. Even the atheist has a view on Him; the atheist doesn't believe God exists.

This is real life. These posts will not be some Bible College mumbo jumbo. Theology is of little value unless it affects life change. Theology affects every part of our lives, and we hope to show that through what we write.

Everyone is a theologian. Everyone has thoughts about God. We would love for you to interact with our posts, share examples of theology in your life, and to ask us questions. We don't have all the answers, but we do know where to look and who to ask.

So join our conversation, and I promise there will be answers found in the Word.


Caleb Beaty is a student at MBI
Follow his regular blog posts here.

Experimentationology

Instead of my own blog, I'm attempting to get some friends together to write about theological topics, and expound on how they impact and shape our lives. The sole purpose of this is to show that it is not our faith, but the object of our faith (Jesus Christ), that saves us. This is the writing of some really jacked up (yet simultaneously righteous) people.

Col. 1:24-27