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November 28 Essential Christian BeliefsI
want to start a few entries on religions that are similar to
Christianity in term of beliefs. But before I get to that, I thought it
is a good idea to write down the salvific beliefs that all Christians
should have in order to be saved. This will make it easier to make
comparisons later on when I discuss other religions; and it is always
good to revisit the basics to make sure we are on the right path. The following is a list of essential Christian beliefs: 1. Believe in the Triune God of the Bible. (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit) 2. Believe that all man have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. 3. Believe that Jesus the Christ (God the Son) is the Son of God, and that He became Man in order to reconcile us to God. 4. Believe that Jesus Christ was crucified on the cross and died on the cross, and that He rose again three days later. 5. Believe that faith in Christ Jesus is necessary and sufficient for salvation; salvation is through grace alone, through faith alone, through Jesus Christ alone. 6. Believe that there is no other path to salvation; Jesus is the one and only way for salvation. 7. Believe that the Bible is the word of God, and that it alone is sufficient for all good works (Sola Scriptura). Of course there are many other doctrines and issues to be discussed, but I feel that these are the core beliefs Christians need to have in order to obtain salvation. Other doctrines are important, but I do not believe that they are salvific. "In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; and in all things, charity." - Augustine November 16 More entries coming soon =)I've
been pretty busy with school this month... just spent 40 hours with my
group members this past weekend hammering out our Operating Systems
project. So if you're wondering why I haven't made any entries lately,
it's because of school. I will start making more entries soon though, and I've changed the layout colours for my blog. It's a little brighter in here now. October 25 What's in a name?This
is my second post of the day! I want to share something that I
have learned from my former Pastor, John Tors, a little while back. I think many Christians might find this interesting. In 1 Chronicles 1:1-4 we read about the geneology tracing from Adam to Noah. "Adam, Seth, Enosh, Cainan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah..." ~ NKJV At first read, this passage might just look like any other geneology. but let us look at what these names mean in Hebrew. Adam - Man Seth - Appointed Enosh - Mortal Cainan - Sorrow Mahalalel - The Blessed God Jared - Shall come down Enoch - Teaching Methuselah - His death shall bring Lamech - The despairing Noah - Comfort And if we piece them together in order we get: Man, Appointed, Mortal, Sorrow, The Blessed God, Shall come down, Teaching, His death shall bring, The despairing, Comfort. Which can be phrased as, "Man (is) appointed mortal sorrow; (but) the Blessed God shall come down teaching (that) His death shall bring the despairing rest." So there it is! The message of the Gospel hidden in the first ten names in the geneology leading to Jesus. Pretty remarkable isn't it? Is it okay to pig out?Many
of us who are familiar with the Bible will recall that in the Old
Testament, the people of Israel were forbidden to eat certain animals,
such as pigs. Of course, pork isn't the only dietary restrictions
placed on people of Israel. The full list of clean and unclean animals
are found in Leviticus 11. With the coming of Jesus and the New Convenant, we are no longer bounded by the Mosaic Laws, which implies that these dietary restrictions no longer apply to us. "For on the one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness, for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God." ~ Hebrews 7:18-19 NKJV "In that He says, 'A new covenant,' He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away." ~ Hebrews 8:13 NKJV The purpose of Jesus' life and work was to fulfill both the Law (the books of Moses) and the Prophets (other Old Testament books). He did not destroy the Old Testament. "But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor." ~ Gal 3:23-25 NKJV The purpose of the Old Covenant is to act as a tutor. The Old Testament points to Jesus, and once He has come we are no longer under the tutor. God's plan of salvation has always been through Jesus. "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel." ~ Genesis 3:15 NKJV In this passage God is talking to the serpent (Satan), and the Seed He is referring to is Jesus. Ever since the first sin commited by man, God's plan of salvation is through Jesus. It should be noted that many of the Mosaic Laws are repeated in the NT: 1. Do not lie or bear false witness (Eph 4:25; Col 3:9; Titus 2:3). 2. Do not steal (Eph 4:28; 1 Pet 4:15). 3. Do not murder (1 Pet 4:15). 4. Do not commit adultery or fornication (1 Cor 6:18; 1 Thess 4:13). ...etc. And Jesus has also given us the two greatest commandments. "Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”" ~ Matt 22:37-40 NKJV And to finally answer the question of eating "unclean" animals... "And a voice came to him, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” But Peter said, “Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean.” And a voice spoke to him again the second time, “What God has cleansed you must not call common.”" ~ Acts 10:13-15 NKJV There are no commands in the NT in regards to dietary restrictions. Thus, we are free to eat pork, as well as other animals that were "unclean" in the OT. October 11 Judge Not..."Judge not, lest ye be judged." Many of you have probably heard this quoted at some point in your Christian lives. When another Christian is sinning are we supposed to keep it hush-hush? If we tell such a person he/she is sinning, then we are judging them. Other Christians might frown upon us because we are judging, and of course in the process of doing so, they themselves are judging us... Instead of thinking about this paradox until our heads explode, I think what is needed here is a good exegesis. Let us re-examine this passage, which is found in Matthew 7:1-2: "Judge not, that you not be judged. For with what judgement you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you." ~NKJV The first thing to note is that in this passage, Jesus is addressing hypocrites not righteous Christians. And if you read on it says: "3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye'; and look, a plank is in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck in your brother's eye." ~NKJV By reading it in context we see that the passage is not calling us not to judge others, but that we should not judge hypocritically. We cannot judge another for a sin that we ourselves are commiting, doing so is being hypocritical! But of course, we should also read the passage in the context of the bible. The following are a few verses on the topic of judging. "Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Do you not know that we shall judge angels? ..." ~ 1 Cor 6:2-3 NKJV The saints are of course referring to believers. This passage clearly says that the Christians will judge the world, and shall judge even the angels. "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment." ~ John 7:24 NKJV Here Jesus is teaching in the temple during the Feast of Tabernacles. He says that we are to judge with righteous judgement, and not according to appearance. "Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified." ~ 2 Cor 13:5 NKJV This is call to judge ourselves. "Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted." ~ Gal 6:1 NKJV In this passage we are told to restore anyone who is overtaken in any trespass. If we see a brother or a sister in Christ commiting a sin, we are to restore them in a spirit of gentleness. "For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil." ~ Heb 5:12-14 NKJV This passage is talking about the need for Christians to grow in the faith, and move from milk to solid food. Notice the last part talks about discernment between good and evil. In order to discern good and evil we need to judge. Closing The bible calls believers to judge. We need to discern both good and evil. If we read the original passage in Matthew in context we see that Jesus is not telling us to withhold judgement. In fact, we must judge one another. Is it more loving for us to keep a blind-eye to another Christian's sins? Would it not be more loving to restore such a person in order for them to stop sinning? We often here people refer to the passge in John 8, where Jesus saves an adulteress from being stoned by saying, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first." What we don't usually hear from the passge is that Jesus commands her to "go and sin no more." (John 8:1-12). Jesus didn't just tell the woman that everything is honky dory, instead he commands her to sin no more! The issue in the passage is not that the people were judging the woman, but rather that they are passing a judgement (or a sentence). As we see in this passage, Jesus says, "Neither do I condemn you." We are not to condemn people, but we are to judge one another for our sins. Jesus will return one day and pass Judgement on man. Is it not more loving that we restore one another of our sins so that when Jesus comes on Judgement Day we would not be living in those sins? And if you dislike being judged by others, why not judge yourselves first so that others wouldn't have to do it for you? (2 Cor 13:5) God hates sin (Psalm 5:5), and no Christian should ever tolerate sin either. |
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