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| Georgia Straight: trekearth |
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| Christianity Explored |
This week, the course leading Pastor and the Christianity Explored, DVD focused on Mark 12 in regard to the meaning of life. I will discuss this as opposed to workbook concepts already dealt with in the two previous posts.
Mark 12: 29-31 from the New American Standard Bible (NASB)
29 Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord;
30 and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’
31 The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
I agreed with the DVD presenter that stated following this would be technically humanly impossible, in this realm. The atoning and resurrection work of Christ is applied to believers, by faith, through grace, and by faith through grace, alone, for good works. (Ephesians 1-2, Galatians 2, Romans 1-9). Spiritual, moral and ethical perfection should be a human goal (Matthew 5: 48), but in this temporal state only God is truly good (Mark 10: 18, Luke 18: 19). I would add that the angels of God, in his holy presence, are finitely, spiritually, morally and ethically perfectly good, but only God is infinitely perfectly good. What humanity can accomplish in the future resurrection (1 Corinthians 15) forward is levels of finite spiritual, moral, ethical and physical perfection. Short states in his Mark commentary: 'It should be appreciated that there is a great deal more involved in 'loving God' and 'loving one's neighbour' than might be superficially imagined, the implication of the latter of these duties having been expanded by Jesus earlier...parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10: 30-37). Short (1986: 1174). Being saved by grace through alone, indicates a human nature and limited free will that cannot obtain perfection in this realm.
The concepts from Mark 12, led to a table discussion where a kind agnostic asked, what I view a common and reasonable question from a secular perspective. That being (paraphrased): How is it that the more sinful Christian that repents can be saved through the work of Christ and within the Kingdom of God, while the more moral person that does not accept Christ is hell-bound? I quoted as I often do on my sites, from the New American Standard Version, Ephesians 2 8-10. I stated that because the atoning and resurrection work of Christ is applied to those in Christ by grace through faith for good works, it is not as if, for example, the 1 billion most moral and ethical people will be in the Kingdom of God. Rather it is those God chooses that chooses him in return (not over-emphasizing compatibilism and workings in this non-academic church ministry context). I did mention that sinful choices did arise from a universal human nature.
Further, for this website presentation, the 'moral person' that does not accept Christ, still has a sinful nature and is with limited free will, embracing sin and rejecting the Biblical God. This regardless of the finite heights of human morality and ethics. In regard to a question presented in regard to obedient and disobedient people in the Church, I quoted 1 Corinthians 6 (NASB) where those who struggle with sin in Christ are differentiated from those that live in sin outside of Christ. I also mentioned James 2: 17 (related James 2: 26) from the (NASB): 'Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.'
Adding to what I stated, the 1 Corinthians verse definitely and definitively is discussing non-believers ('Do not be deceived neither fornicators' etc..). I should acknowledge that with James there is some theological room to consider a person in James 2: 17 as having a dead faith and therefore being a non-believer, or having a dead faith that is not a non-faith, but is rather a faith with no substantial good works, or both possibilities. I have read scholarship that supports various views. Either way my quotation of the verse worked to demonstrate to the agnostic that the New Testament acknowledges the obedient Christian life from other in the Church. The following scholarship does seem to support a view compatible with Reformed perspectives in light of 1 Corinthians 3 (leadership), 2 Peter 3 and Hebrews 6. These verses would be debated, especially 2 Peter 3 and Hebrews 6 with various views. It seems theologically difficult, although I admit not impossible, to equate non-faith with dead faith. The assumption would be the Christian faith was fake and not real. A theological problem is dead faith indicates a faith that existed as alive faith at some point. Does not a non-believer have no faith at every point? No saving faith in Christ and the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Redeeming God: James 2 14-26
Cited:
'It does not mean to be delivered or saved from hell and given eternal life unless the context indicates that this is the meaning. In Ephesians 2, the context tells us that our salvation, our deliverance is from sin and the eternal consequences of sin. So Ephesians 2 is talking about being delivered from sin.'
'But is that what James 2 is talking about? No, not even close.'...
Cited:
'Faith alone in Christ alone gets you into heaven. Works earn you reward in heaven. If all you have is faith in Christ, that will get you into heaven, but faith will not save your reward, or inheritance or profit that could have been yours in heaven. When Christians ask, “Why can’t I sin all I want?” the most basic Biblical answer is: “Because you will lose heavenly reward. You will be disinherited at the judgment seat of Christ.”'
SHORT, STEPHEN S. (1986) ‘Mark’, in F.F. Bruce (ed.), The International Bible Commentary, Grand Rapids, Zondervan.
