JESUS as a *LIVING* Doctrine

Following Judah's Lion (blog) ^ | October 19, 2009 | Rick Frueh

[CondoleezzaProtege]

"Why would we ever align ourselves with the constant drone of demeaning rhetoric coming from talk radio and television? We are not called to castigate sinners, we are called to be Jesus in their midst. The world around us hears our murmuring concerning the economy and liberal politicians and Hollywood activists, but do they hear that we stand by grace alone and that before Christ entered our lives we were every bit a sinner as were they? We sit high and aloof in the official press box and observe and critique the lost culture, basking in our situation as if we had climbed the stairs ourselves. Jesus was mocked and scourged, rejected and despised, beaten and bruised, and abandoned by those He came to save, and yet – He wept over the rebels of Jerusalem. Jesus weeps and we editorialize."

"It is past time that we as believers become imitators as well. The world hasn’t seen the Risen Christ, displayed in all His loving glory and grace, manifested in the lives of church members. Let us surrender our rights and political agendas; let us release our interest in monetary gains; and let us reject any hint of self interest. We must begin an uncomfortable journey that assesses everything through the lens of what Jesus did. The Apostle Paul says we should esteem everyone else’s needs above our own. That, in and of itself, might bring revival to the church."

read more: http://judahslion.blogspot.com/2009/10/jesus-as-living-doctrine-doctrine.html

[Lee N. Field]

Sounds like law to me.

[CondoleezzaProtege]

There has always been an attempt to weave the works of man into salvation, but today that doctrine has taken on a renewed energy. As I have written before, certain men have crept in unawares and are now teaching what the Bible calls the “doctrine of demons”. The slightest suggestion that works play any part in the salvation of a sinner is the most egregious doctrinal issue of all, and is apostasy itself. Salvation is by faith alone in Jesus and His finished work of redemption on the cross.

I have addressed that subject many times like this for example.

But there is another side to this issue of doctrine. The Scriptures teach a living doctrine; one that communicates the person of Jesus Christ through the apocalypse of deeds, words, and expressions. They are no substitute for the gospel, but they do substantiate and bring life to that same gospel. So many times we as orthodox believers have minimized and even maligned the notion that our lives can and should be “living epistles” that are “read of all men”.

~ Rick Frueh

[CondoleezzaProtege]

So by eating with sinners, loving the downtrodden, and being homeless, Jesus was being legalistic?! If you read the whole article, Pastor Frueh established “justification by faith alone” at the very beginning. He’s not advocating for state-run charity here, he’s merely saying that our faith should have its expression in our actions and words—not that our actions themselves have anything to do with SAVING us or making us right with God. Rather our lives should reflect Christ as much as our written testimonies. That’s the greatest way to make a case for the truth to lost sinners.

WE ourselves are “totally depraved”, lost sinners without the Sovereign Grace and saving work of Christ and therefore we have nothing to boast or be self-righteous about.