Posted on 12/19/2014 1:30:26 PM PST by SeekAndFind
It’s no secret that those of us who claim to follow Jesus Christ consistently fall short of living up to the way of life of our Rabbi. Being a disciple of Jesus is a lifelong journey towards conforming ourselves to the image and way of life that Jesus taught. However, so often, followers of Jesus chose to blatantly ignore some of the clearest instruction of our Rabbi and obscure it with vague theology so that we can get off the hook. Other times, followers of Jesus are taught something explicitly contradictory to the plain words of Jesus and then spend their lives obeying the instruction they received instead of the commands of Jesus.
However we end up at the place of disobedience, all of us who claim to be followers of Jesus struggle to obey the commands of our Lord. One of the most transformative periods in my faith was when I took time to re-read the Gospels of the New Testament and get reacquainted with Jesus’ himself, in his own words. As I studied the words of Jesus, I discovered that so much of what he asks of us as his disciples is incredibly clear and yet so much of it was new to me. I had never heard it in church or Sunday school or actually heard someone teach the exact opposite of the words of Christ. It was during that season of my life where I took inventory of how I lived and what I believed and aligned to the person and teachings of Christ that my faith was radically transformed for the better.
Below I have compiled a short list of 4 clear teachings of Jesus that most of us who exist within Evangelicalism have either never heard, refuse to acknowledge, or believe the exact opposite of. It’s my hope that by rereading these teachings of Christ, you will be inspired, like I have been, to return to the Gospels and begin to reshape your faith and life around the way and teachings of our Master, Jesus. Get ready and buckle up, because most of what Jesus says is pretty bold and potent. It’ll shake up your faith!
1. Jesus, not the Bible, is God’s living and active Word that brings life.
“You don’t have His word living in you, because you don’t believe the One He sent. You study the Scriptures because you think you have eternal life in them, yet they testify about Me. And you are not willing to come to Me so that you may have life.”- John 5:39-40 HCSB
The Christian life is one that is fundamentally rooted in the reality that Jesus Christ is living and active. He interacts with us on a day to day basis and desires that we cultivate an intimate relationship with him. The more we commune with the Spirit of Christ, the more life and truth we are exposed to and are able to comprehend. However, for many Evangelicals, we rely more on the Bible than we do on the living and active Spirit of God within us. We fear that following the Spirit could lead to confusion and subjectivity and so we root our faith in the Bible. The problem is that a faith that is rooted in the Scripture alone is not sustainable. It will dry up and wither on the vine. While the Bible is an important and authoritative guide for Christian faith and practice, it isn’t the foundation or center of our faith- Jesus is. And if we truly believe that he is alive, we should also have faith that communing with him will produce spiritual life within us. He is the living Word that we can ask anything to and expect, in faith, to receive and answer. Sometimes he will speak through Scripture. Other times he will speak through our friends and family. Other times he will find unique and special ways to reveal himself to us. But in order to maintain a vibrant and living faith, we must not make the Bible our substitute for communion with the living Word of God. Studying Scripture is valuable, but nowhere near as valuable as cultivating a day to day relationship with the God incarnate.
2. The only way to enter the Kingdom of Heaven is through DOING the will of God.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 7:21 ESV
“An expert in the law stood up to test Him, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”“What is written in the law?” He asked him. “How do you read it?”He answered: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.“You’ve answered correctly,” He told him. “Do this and you will live.”- Luke 10: 25-28 HCSB
“We are saved by faith alone, apart from works!” This is a very popular Protestant catch phrase. The doctrine of sola fide (faith alone) was developed by the Reformers in response to the Roman Catholic Churches corrupted teachings that emerged in the 16th Century teaching that one could gain favor with God and shave off years in Hell and Purgatory by giving money to the church or doing acts of penance. The intention of the doctrine of faith alone was very good- to correct the error that our salvation could be earned or that God’s grace could be manipulated. But like most doctrines that are formulated in response to another group’s doctrine, it often goes too far. One of the clearest teachings throughout all four Gospel accounts is that the way to enter the Kingdom of God is through living in obedience to the Law of Christ. Time and time again, Jesus makes very clear statements that condemn those who think that they will be saved because they believe the right things or do the right religious rituals. Jesus responds to people who believe they are religious and deserve heaven by saying that their outward religiosity is detestable to God and the only thing God desires is that they would exercise their faith by obeying the command of God- to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly. (Micah 6:8) Jesus says if anyone claims to be right with God but doesn’t serve the poor, needy, oppressed, marginalized, sick, diseased, and sinful, then they do not have a relationship with God. No matter what they proclaim with their lips. No matter how religious they may appear. Jesus says those who don’t obey will have no part in his Kingdom. He makes very clear that the way to “inherit eternal life” is through loving God and loving our neighbor. Isn’t it astonishing, then, how many Christians today have been taught that salvation comes through right believing instead of right practice- a message that is fundamentally contrary to the words of Jesus. (And even more to his little brother James who says, “You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.” James 2:24 ESV)
3. Condemnation isn’t Jesus’ style.
“I have not come to condemn the world, but to save it.” John 3:17 ESV
“Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.”- John 8:11 ESV
Many modern day Evangelical preachers spend a lot of time talking about the kinds of people that God is opposed to and who he condemns. They spend time talking about how to transition from a position of condemnation before God to a position of Grace through believing the right things about Jesus. They often talk about those who disagree or live contrary to their understanding of what is “righteous” as those who are under condemnation from God. But what’s funny is that as one examines the teachings and life of Jesus, we find him not only befriending, loving, and affirming some of his societies most despised and vile people, but chastising the religious leaders who condemned them for their sin. Whether it is Jesus’ conversation with Rabbi Niccodemus in John 3 where Christ explains that it is his mission to redeem the world and not to condemn it or the instance where a woman is caught in the act of adultery and is taken outside to be stoned by the religious officials (as the law required) and Jesus steps in to stop the condemnation and proclaim freedom and forgiveness to the broken woman, it is clear that Jesus is not in the condemning business. Instead, it seems Christ is in the business of restoring humanity to the most broken and wicked of people. It seems that his passion is to see the weak, sick, and broken become strong, healthy, and whole in his Kingdom. It seems that he spends very little time (almost none) telling sinners why they’re wrong or speaking words of condemnation over them, but rather practically loving and extending grace to the most screwed up of individuals. Maybe we Evangelicals, who are known for our condemnation of entire people groups with whom we disagree, could learn something from Jesus on this point.
4. You’re supposed to sacrifice yourself and speak words of blessings for those you disagree with the most.
“Love Your Enemies and Bless Those Who Persecute You” Matthew 5:44 ESV
It seems like every week there is a new major controversy taking place within the Church. Most of the time, the situation revolves around one group of Christians disagreeing with another and then taking to the internet to write slanderous posts about the other. If it’s not infighting, then it is Christians engaging in culture wars, working to defeat those whom we disagree with politically and socially by painting them as soul-less monsters. But that response is absolutely contrary to the way of Jesus. Jesus calls his followers to love the people they disagree with most and to speak blessings over them when all we really want to do is curse them out. No matter what the situation is or what kind of enemy we have, Christians are called to bless the people who hurt us the most. This includes in theological battles, political disagreements, national wars, and personal conflicts. Christians are called to a radical position of nonviolence and forgiveness, grace, and even blessing of our enemies. There is no way around it. And when Christians chose to ignore these clear teachings, our hypocrisy is glaringly obvious to the watching world. Want some proof? Take a couple minutes to watch this clip of the famous Agnostic Comedian, Bill Maher, talk about Christian’s refusal to obey the teaching of Jesus. (Contains explicit language)
That video may be hard to stomach but Bill Maher is 100% correct. “If you ignore every single thing Jesus commanded you to do, you’re not a Christian.”
The point of this post is to encourage those of us who claim to be followers of Jesus to reexamine how we are living our lives and practicing our faith. It is so easy to get so caught up in the flow that we fail to recognize just how far away from shore we have been carried. The words of Jesus are pretty darn clear, but oftentimes in our zealousness for our faith, we often get pulled away from the basics and eventually end up living in a way that we believe is honoring to God, but is actually contradictory to everything he has taught us.
In this post, I have offered just four examples. There and hundreds of teachings contained in the 4 Gospels of the New Testament, teachings that, if we obeyed, would absolutely flip our lives and world upside-down for the glory of God and the good of all people. What the Church as a whole and Evangelicals in particular desperately need in this age is a return to the plain teachings of Jesus. We need to be willing to set aside out theological debates and meanderings for a season and focus on simply reading, conforming, and obeying the will of Christ, both as revealed in Scripture and as we are led by his Spirit. The world is desperately longing to encounter Jesus through us and for far too long we have been giving them a cheap knock off that we have exported under his name. But it’s clear to everyone that what is passing for Christianity today is almost totally divorced from the teachings of Jesus Christ.
My prayer is that we would all turn our faces towards our risen Savior and seek to selflessly follow his commands. I am convinced that the Jesus’ way is the only way that will heal our broken world. I am convinced that the whole earth is groaning as it waits for men and women to take of their crosses and follow in the way of redemption. I am convinced that when those of us who call ourselves “Christian” re-orient ourselves in Jesus, the power of God will flow through us in an unprecedented and miraculous way that will bring salvation to the ends of the earth. Oh how I long for that day.
“Those who aren’t following Jesus aren’t his followers. It’s that simple. Followers follow, and those who don’t follow aren’t followers. To follow Jesus means to follow Jesus into a society where justice rules, where love shapes everything. To follow Jesus means to take up his dream and work for it.”
― Scot McKnight
>> “It’s no secret that those of us who claim to follow Jesus Christ consistently fall short of living up to the way of life of our Rabbi. Being a disciple of Jesus is a lifelong journey towards conforming ourselves to the image and way of life that Jesus taught. However, so often, followers of Jesus chose to blatantly ignore some of the clearest instruction of our Rabbi and obscure it with vague theology so that we can get off the hook. Other times, followers of Jesus are taught something explicitly contradictory to the plain words of Jesus and then spend their lives obeying the instruction they received instead of the commands of Jesus.” <<
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This is a perfect description of “Churchianity.”
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Indeed. In time our separated brethren will come to the realization that sola scriptura is a losing proposition and will make their way home to the One True Church.
What a joy that day will be. Peace brother!
>> “THIS IS THE WORK OF GOD - that you BELIEVE in Him whom He sent.” <<
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To believe in him is to follow all he taught, and live as he lived. This is discipleship.
It does not mean to believe that he lived and died on the cross to pay for our sins.
Satan believes that, and it won’t save him!
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Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved (Acts 16:31
God saves those who believe (1Cor.1:21)
We are of those who believe and are saved (Heb 10:39)
saved by grace through faith (Eph 2:8)
he who believes and is baptised will be saved (Mark 16:16)
your faith has saved you (Luke 7:50)
if you believe God raised him you will be saved (Rom. 10:9)
our faith in Christ overcomes the world (1 John 5:4-5)
lest they believe and are saved (Luke 8:12)
yes. and we all know we can’t obey Him perfectly, but we can be confident He won’t forsake us when we fail.
“You don’t have His word living in you, because you don’t believe the One He sent. You study the Scriptures because you think you have eternal life in them, yet they testify about Me. And you are not willing to come to Me so that you may have life.”- John 5:39-40 HCSB
If you are trying to argue "Jesus, not the Bible," it's a little self-defeating to quote the words of Jesus out of the Bible, isn't it?
Who am I??? I am a bible believer...And of course I will say scripture because that's what the bible says...
2Ti 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 2Ti 3:17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
Scripture is so profitable for doctrine and instruction that it will make a man perfect and thoroughly furnished...
Without one teaching authority, which Christ wanted, nobodies opinion on scripture or doctrine is as good as anybody else’s.
And the scriptures tell us what that one teaching authority is...And it's not the Catholic religion...
1Jn 2:27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
Not a single mention of your religion, or a magisterium...
Unfortunately you do not appear to have any understanding of what the concept of ‘belief’ meant to the Jewish apostles that wrote the NT.
Belief requires a total lifetime of following what he taught, and living as he lived.
You have not ‘believed’ until you have lived your whole life as he lived, in obedience to his teachings.
Are you ready for belief?
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Huh,,
what?
You mean,,,,
wait,
#1 - One need only look at the last 2,000 years of Christianity to see the problem with not having a firm foundation established on God’s Word. God help the Body if we are turning to “friends and family” for Truth. When you put in quality time with the Word, you ARE with Jesus. Its not an either/or kind of thing. If you set aside the Word, you will end up in the religious ditch of relativism, and preaching a social gospel on one side of the road, or persecuting and killing folks who believe differently than you on the other.
John 6:63 (KJV)
63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
You cannot separate Jesus from the Word. The Word is God’s Wisdom and Will. Faith comes from hearing the Word. Faith is what pleases God. The Word is Alive and Truth. Faith MUST be founded on Truth. You need BOTH, the Holy Spirit and Truth.
“While the Bible is an important and authoritative guide for Christian faith and practice, it isn’t the foundation or center of our faith- Jesus is.”
There is a really good reason Jesus is referred to as the Word. The Bible is a Revelation of Jesus. And while the author’s sentence sounds nice, to neglect the Word, or treat it as just a guide, opens the door to all sorts of other “guides” that are not God’s Truth influencing your life and undermining whatever faith you might have. And without the Word, there wont be much.
1 Peter 2:2 (KJV)
2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
2 Timothy 3:15-17 (KJV)
15 And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
#2 - I am assuming the author does not understand the difference between the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of God. The KOH is an earthly kingdom centered on Israel with Jesus as King. The KOG is a spiritual dominion of God. With that Truth in mind, what the heck does the Body of Christ have to do with the KOH?
If he actually would READ God’s Word, especially Romans through Thessalonians, the letters written specifically TO THE CHURCH, he would see the folly of his faith versus works argument. There is either NOW NO condemnation, or there still is. The Body is either made alive in Christ and seated in Heavenly places, or not. Believers are either Children of God, or not. Jesus, Paul, and James should not contradict each other. However, they could be addressing different audiences and different dispensations and all be correct.
#3 - I somewhat agree with his third point. Christians attempt to fight against sin in the flesh. Its a spiritual conflict and needs spiritual weapons. And you must catch a fish before you can clean it anyway. Billy Graham once said, “It is the Holy Spirit’s job to convict, God’s job to judge and my job to love.” There is a whole lot of truth in that statement. Be the Light for others. You may be the only Jesus that a sinner will ever meet. Preach the Word and let it do what its supposed to in the life of an unbeliever.
#4 - Love, but not compromise. I can pray for elected leaders and still know right from wrong, good versus evil. All Believers need to learn not to be easily offended, avoiding strife and division. I value differences of opinions on scriptural issues - iron sharpens iron. It makes me dig into the Word, study, and pray even more.
After reading his bio, it explains much about the article. It appears an effort to swing evangelicals politically to the left, or at least divide them. The Bill Maher video was another big red flag. I am wary of anyone who seeks to diminish God’s Word, a trick of the enemy dating back to the Garden.
Brandan Robertson is a progressive evangelical writer, activist, speaker, and spiritual entrepreneur who is committed to getting Jesus second hearing among the cynical, skeptical, burned, and spiritual but not religious people. He desires to build-bridges across cultural, theological, and political divides and to help others rethink, reform, and renew what it looks like to be a follower of Jesus in our post-modern, post-Christian world.
Brandan is the host of the Project:Awaken Podcast and the director of an action-oriented social justice initiative called Revangelicals for a Better Tomorrow.
Read more: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/revangelical/about#ixzz3MNp9yihB
RE: Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved (Acts 16:31
Ahh, but here’s the rub ... how does one manifest that he is indeed a believer in the Lord Jesus?
“What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?” ( James 2:14)
Amen! Thank you Lord Jesus for sending us Paul.
Amen. Right division! Without it you end up confused like the writer.
>> “Seems this guy wants to put us back under the bondage of works.” <<
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There is no ‘bondage’ to obedience to the commandments of Yeshua.
Did you get that “workers of lawlessness” in Matthew 23 that you just posted?
You appear to be a “worker of lawlessness.”
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What do you thing this “right division” is?
Are you a “worker of lawlessness?”
By deliberately misinterpreting Paul’s instruction to Timothy to divide the word of truth from the words of falsehood, one becomes a worker of lawlessness.
Confused you are!
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I view it like this. Jesus is the Word. He is the physical embodiment of every jot and tittle. INCLUDING the Old Testament. To know Him I have to read the whole Bible. There is so much about the life of Jesus in the Old Testament and especially His return and rule as the Great King that Billy really needs to read the whole thing.
Yup.
A little more on the rich young ruler, if I may;
The rich young ruler took great pride in the laws he was able to keep, in his own estimation anyway. Jesus, knowing the young ruler’s heart, went right to the core of his deep rooted sin, the love of money.
All too often those same words are turned on all of us, as if we all suffer from the love of money. Granted some of us do, but the deeper point here is God knows exactly what out sins are and we will be judged on the on that great and horrible day. Only those who look to Jesus will have those sins forgiven.
>> “But I guess we are not supposed to read the Bible, but listen to this guy.” <<
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If you listen to him, you will become a “believer,” one who believes what Yeshua taught, and follows his teachings, and lives as he lived.
That is what believe means.
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