stfassisi wrote:
“Theology is only useful if the end result is love.I’m sure we both agree on this?”
Theology is only useful if it upholds the truth about God. That’s what theology is, by definition. The truth, in turn, is the native territory of God the Holy Spirit. It is He who uses truth to enlighten our sin darkened hearts and minds. It that light we sight God as He has revealed Himself to us, that is, we see Him for who He really is, not who we piously or impiously imagine Him to be.
In the light of His law we see His perfection, His wrath toward mankind as a whole, how far short of His glory we have fallen, and thus His condemnation of each of us as individuals. The law, rightly taught (as good theology does) leaves us despairing and hopeless, condemned to eternal separation from God, in other words, hell. To the extent we do not see our own hopeless condemnation we stand as the Pharisee in the temple, putting forth to God all our supposed good qualities. And we will not go down to our house justified. No, we will in due time do down to hell condemned, because we saw God as He is, as He has revealed Himself to us, and we told Him to stuff it. This finally is the only unforgivable sin, the sin against the Holy Spirit, the sin of telling the Holy Spirit that He does not know what He is talking about.
However, condemned and despairing, to which point the Spirit has brought us, He reveals also that this same God who mercilessly crushes us under the weight of His holy law, tolerating no unholiness in His presence, also so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son to bear the weight of our sin on His own shoulders, to become sin for us, and bear the full condemnation in our stead, so that we might be counted righteous, we might have His righteousness as our own. This righteousness, which consists both of His active and perfect obedience to God’s law in thought, word, and deed (”He has done all things well!”) and His passive and patient obedience to the Father in drinking the full cup of His wrath (see His prayer in the Garden of Gethsamane) toward all sin and all sinners, is ours by faith in this crucified One whom the Father sent into the world to redeem sinners.
The apostle John wrote, “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us.” (1 John 3:16) If one does not see the complete extinction of God’s wrath toward sin in Christ and thus the fulness of His and His Son’s love for us poor, condemned sinners, that one can and will never know what love is. So, stfassis, yes, theology is only useful if the end result is love. When theology leads us to see the fulness of the love of God in Christ for sinful humanity then theology is good. In other words, good theology leads us to faith in Christ Jesus the only Savior from sin, death, and the power of the devil. And from the good tree of faith the fruit of good works will follow, chief of which is love, love that loves as it has been loved.
Sadly, the above is not what Rome teaches, but it is what God’s Word teaches. And thus it is good theology, and oh so useful - and welcome - to us.
Amen
Amen...awesome post! Praise be to the name of the Lord.
Your post is very similar to Jonathan Edwards “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.”
In any event, Catholic’s don’t believe in a dualistic God-We understand that God does not change and the love crushes sin,not anger.
The Bible literalest can never reconcile.