Infallible interpretation?

I'd like to share an observation about the last part of 1 Cor 13:12... where Paul states, "..Now I know in part."

The inspired Apostle himself said "Now I know in part." The Apostle who had been caught up in the third heaven and had heard words not lawful to be uttered, owns up to his own knowledge in the present state to be imperfect. What instruction to those of us who entertain such high views of ourselves, thinking we have achieved theological infallibility.

This puts us all in a place of humility before God. We Must search the scriptures, we must study God's word. But because we are still in this age, when we have done our best, we are compelled to say, "Lord I have searched Thy Word, but I know only in part, i do not perfectly understand."

To quote theologian George Ladd "It will indeed be a wonderful day when all of God's people can agree in their understanding of God and of God's truth, yet that day lies in the future, it is not yet here. Many problems arise because God's people do not recognize the teaching of Scripture about the incompleteness of Christian knowledge...The scripture is clear that our knowledge is partial."

Should not therefore, our imperfect knowledge lead us to excercising the gift of love seen in 1 Cor 13? To fill in the gaps of our ignorance?

I am not undercutting the importance of theological purity. What I am saying is that this lays a demand upon us, as believers, to hold the Word of God both in humility and in charity, especially in those areas where our imperfect knowledge leads to differing interpretations of the Word of God.

Allegiance to the Bible would hopefully take us all to the place of John Calvin, who revised his own summary of doctrine several times, without to my knowledge every claiming infallibility for it.

Think about it.

Beginning of the real story..

The ending line of C.S Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia...

"...But the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: Now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on for ever, in which every chapter is better than the one before. "

What a beautiful picture. Think on that.

In the Name of Jesus

In the Name of Jesus is a book by Henri Nouwen, one of my all time favorites. The following are temptations that he mentions leaders especially will go through....

The temptation to be Spectacular!!!!

THe temptation to be relevant!!!!

THe Temptation to be powerful!!!

I've been feeling these more lately. Especially as I become an intern at church, I've been sensing these more. Who doesn't want to be amazing? The type of amazing where I would get glory. How pathetic. I want to be spectacular, I want to be amazing, i want to be powerful. Am i so insecure? Is God's love nothing but an abstract concept? What disordered priorities i have. Who am i living for?

In the name of Jesus? Probably not. Thank God for grace.

Work it out

Our Lofty Calling

I took this from professor walt russell. I thought it was quite the amazing. =P
Listen to Paul's description of our calling in Ephesians 1-3: Obviously you won't read all of it, but perhaps skim through to see if anything sticks out.

WE Are....
- Chosen before the foundation of the world (1:4)
- made holy and blameless before God (1:4)
- Predestined to adoption as sons of GOd (1:5)
- Redeemed through Christ's blood (1:7)
- Forgiven of our trespasses (1:7)
- Made knowledgeable of the mystery of God's will (1:9)
- Given an inheritance (1:11)
- Sealed in Christ with the Holy Spirit (1:13)
- Given the Holy Spirit as a pledge of our inheritance (1:14)
- Given riches of glory as an inheritance (1:18)
- Possessing surpassing greatness in His power towards us (1:19)
- Put under the headship of the all powerful Christ in the church (1:20-23)
- Made recipients of God's rich mercy and Great love (2:4)
- Made alive from our deadness in sin (2:5)
- Enlivened, raised up, and seated with Christ in the heavenly places (2:5-6)
- Made future trophies of His rich grace (2:7)
- Saved by grace through faith not works (2:8-9)
- Made God's workmanship, created for good works (2:10)
- Brought near to God by the blood of Christ (2:13)
- Freed from the dividing wall that separated us from God and his people (2:14)
- Freed from teh enmity of the Law abolished in Christ's death (2:15)
- Reconciled with believing Jews and Gentiles into a new body (2:16)
- Given access to God in the Holy Spirit (2:18)
- Made a fellow citizen and household member of God's family (2:19)
- Built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets (2:20)
- Being fitted and growing into a holy temple in the Lord (2:21)
- Being built into a dwelling of God in the Spirit (2:22)
- Made fellow heirs and fellow body members with the saints (3:6)
- Made fellow partakers of the promise in Christ (3:6)
- Made proclaimers of the manifold wisdom of God to angelic beings (3:10)
- Given boldness and confident access to God through faith in Christ (3:12)
- Given access to the Holy Spirit's power in our inner man (3:16)
- Given the capacity for our hearts to be Christ's dwelling place (3:17)
- Given the potential to comprehend Christ's unlimited love for us (3:18-19)
- Given the potential to be filled up to the fullness of God (3:20)
- Made partakers of his exceedingly abundant powers (3:21)

Whew! We are quite a blessed people wouldn't you say? Ephesians 1-3 talks of our identity and who we are. Then in Eph 4-6 Paul talks of the life that should flow out of that identity. Identity in Christ, then how to live.... Work out your identity! Think upon it. Then move your life in line with that identity.

I'm not a monotheist...pt.4

Unfortunately, to many Christians the doctrine of the trinity is irrelevant to life. A.W Tozer states that "A right conception of God is basic not only to systematic theology, but to practical living as well."
Here are some practical implications from the doctrine of the trinity.

1. Practicing the presence of the Triune God
-'Mere Monotheists' is what theologian Karl Rahner once observed about most Christians.
- However, when we understand the Trinitarian nature of God, we see prayer and worship, for example as God's own movement within his people bringing them into fellowship and giving them knowledge of himself. (C.S Lewis, Mere Christianity)


2. Relating to others in love like that of the Trinity
- The triune God is the perfect expression of the self-giving, mutually submissive nature of love for which we were made. Within the trinity we see the example of persons completely open to one another, transparent, moving with a single will and mind.
- When there is conflict within the church, we are denying the trinity. We are to be more Christ like, more selfless, as Christ is a member of the trinity.

3. THe deepest roots for a missionary theology
- The nature of the Church's task in the world is defined by the nature of the Christian's God. Every function is to be missional, to be like the triune God, who is in constant motion with the lost and broken. As the Father sent him, He sent us. As the triune God extended fellowship with us, we are to extend that same fellowship with others.

4. Personal relationship with the God of Scripture
- When Yahweh promised his people there would come a future time of restoration when His people would "know his name" (Is 52:6), he was reiterating an important biblical understanding of salvation. To know the living God, to call upon his name, to know his name are all descriptions of salvation as being in proper relationship with the Creator.
- In the revelation of God that Jesus brought us, we know the name of the living God is "Father, Son and Spirit" (Matt 28:19).
- To reject the trinity, is to reject the God whose name is triune, the God who saves, the God who took Israel out of bondage. To dishonor the son is to dishonor the Father (John 5:23, 12:26). Salvation is knowing God's name, 3-in-1. What God do you have a relationship with?

The trinity to say the least, amazes me. I've been thinking about it more and more. I believe this has made me think differently about serving the church and others. I need to live a Christ-like life that exemplifies the trinity, through how I love, how i serve, how i put others ahead of myself, how I extend fellowship, all to live more like the God I follow. A 3 in 1 God whom I worship with all reverence, yet remember he is close within me, pressing upon my heart.

Think about it.